WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:03.340 --> 00:00:06.009 Hi everyone, I hope you’re all having a good week. 00:00:06.009 --> 00:00:10.740 Welcome to another episode of UVA Weekly, the new smash-hit show of the season. 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:14.460 Today, we’ll be giving you an update on how things are going with the virus, sharing 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:19.740 ideas for what you can do in groups of 5 or fewer, taking you on a tour of the Memorial 00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:25.520 to Enslaved Laborers, sharing the latest information on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, and 00:00:25.520 --> 00:00:28.990 ending with a sneak preview of the new season of Arts on the Hill. 00:00:28.990 --> 00:00:33.620 But first, a quick review of the numbers: At the time we’re recording this on Thursday 00:00:33.620 --> 00:00:39.370 morning, we have 219 “active” cases, meaning new cases with a positive test result in the 00:00:39.370 --> 00:00:43.440 past 10 days that require isolation on or off Grounds. 00:00:43.440 --> 00:00:49.500 Right now, about 9% of our isolation space we’ve set aside for students who test positive is 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:55.430 occupied, as is 22% of the quarantine space we’ve reserved for close contacts. 00:00:55.430 --> 00:01:00.530 Our new saliva testing program is making it possible to perform more widespread testing 00:01:00.530 --> 00:01:05.399 of asymptomatic students, and we are working every day to expand capacity. 00:01:05.399 --> 00:01:10.270 The details about our plans are in this week's Return to Grounds newsletter. 00:01:10.270 --> 00:01:14.979 A couple weeks ago, in an effort to stay one step ahead of the virus, we put new guidelines 00:01:14.979 --> 00:01:17.719 in place around gatherings, masking, and travel. 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:21.829 At the time, we said the guidelines would stay in place for at least two weeks, at which 00:01:21.829 --> 00:01:23.649 point we would reevaluate. 00:01:23.649 --> 00:01:27.789 As you heard from Dean Groves on Tuesday, we’ve decided to keep the new guidelines 00:01:27.789 --> 00:01:29.539 in place for a couple more weeks. 00:01:29.539 --> 00:01:33.849 I know this comes as a disappointment to many of you, and I want to be clear that 00:01:33.849 --> 00:01:35.209 we’re not doing this as a punishment. 00:01:35.209 --> 00:01:40.719 The vast majority of you have done a remarkable job adapting to the new rules, and it has 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:42.759 helped slow the spread of the virus. 00:01:42.759 --> 00:01:46.939 While the numbers are looking better this week, they are not yet where we would like them to be, 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:49.659 which is why we’re going to stay the course for now. 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:54.100 Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and for doing your part. 00:01:54.100 --> 00:01:58.240 Speaking of students doing their part, it’s been incredibly encouraging to see so many 00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:03.609 of you on Grounds wearing your masks, gathering in groups of 5 or fewer, and observing social 00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:04.609 distancing. 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:08.250 We’ve also received reports from members of the community who have seen students setting 00:02:08.250 --> 00:02:10.729 a good example off-Grounds as well. 00:02:10.729 --> 00:02:14.430 Thank you for everything you’re doing to keep yourselves and our community safe. 00:02:14.430 --> 00:02:19.170 I would like to end with a special word of thanks to the team at Facilities Management. 00:02:19.170 --> 00:02:22.879 Earlier this week, I stopped by their shop and got to meet some of the people who are 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.659 keeping us safe across Grounds. 00:02:24.659 --> 00:02:29.870 It’s a remarkably talented and dedicated group of people doing an enormous amount of 00:02:29.870 --> 00:02:31.650 work that often goes unnoticed. 00:02:31.650 --> 00:02:35.769 So, if you see them around, please say thanks. 00:02:35.769 --> 00:02:42.200 And thanks to all of you for watching, and now, as usual, I’ll turn things over to Davion Zeno. Thank you. 00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:44.520 Wassup Guys, Zeno here and I’m back like I left something. 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:48.840 Coming to you with the Youva team to talk all things Covid and news on grounds. 00:02:48.840 --> 00:02:52.609 For this week’s segment It seems like we have to have the talk. 00:02:52.609 --> 00:02:54.030 You know, the talk. 00:02:54.030 --> 00:02:56.680 When you meet someone and you're seeing them daily. 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.189 Yeah, that talk. 00:02:58.189 --> 00:03:02.599 I am talking about the Covid expectations talk with your roommates. 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:04.040 What else could I be talking about? 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:07.739 Listen, I know we are a month in but we are still receiving questions on how to deal with 00:03:07.739 --> 00:03:09.019 this awkward conversation. 00:03:09.019 --> 00:03:14.409 I don't know about you guys, but I love awkward moments, they just bring people together. 00:03:14.409 --> 00:03:17.470 In any relationship, communication is key. 00:03:17.470 --> 00:03:20.430 Let each other know when it is the worst time to talk and when it is the best time to talk. 00:03:20.430 --> 00:03:25.019 Some people don’t have the mental capacity to have important conversations past 10 pm, 00:03:25.019 --> 00:03:27.299 I am some people. 00:03:27.299 --> 00:03:30.219 Express your limitations like what you can and cannot share. 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:35.409 Computers, keyboards and bedding may be off limits and that is totally fine. 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:40.150 Also maybe promise each other that as soon as you get home we will always wash your hands. 00:03:40.150 --> 00:03:43.860 With online classes, and studying happening in your rooms, it would be important to discuss 00:03:43.860 --> 00:03:44.860 norms. 00:03:44.860 --> 00:03:49.049 If you need absolute silence during certain classes, using headphones, setting quiet hours 00:03:49.049 --> 00:03:53.530 are all important for your academic success during these times. 00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:56.829 Communication needs to be clear with cleanliness, like committing to wiping down surfaces like 00:03:56.829 --> 00:04:00.739 door knobs, counters, and fridge handles at least daily. 00:04:00.739 --> 00:04:05.700 In the case that your roommate becomes sick with the flu or covid, wear a mask, open windows, 00:04:05.700 --> 00:04:09.480 disinfect all surfaces and don’t cook or eat together. 00:04:09.480 --> 00:04:11.950 Check with student health to see if you need to get tested. 00:04:11.950 --> 00:04:15.050 We know that these conversations are tough but they are important. 00:04:15.050 --> 00:04:18.829 We encourage you to always start off with the why setting these routines and commitments 00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:20.100 are important. 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:25.720 With over 200,000 people passing due to complications with the virus in the US, chances are multiple 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.440 students have had a brush with it in some way. 00:04:28.440 --> 00:04:32.470 And, while all of us are having these conversations, it’s worth remembering that a lot of researchers 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:36.770 at UVA are hard at work on treatments and vaccines that could help us put an end to 00:04:36.770 --> 00:04:38.419 this pandemic. 00:04:38.419 --> 00:04:42.500 This week, Dr. Bill Petri takes us behind the scenes in his lab, where they have made some 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:47.590 important discoveries about how to treat COVID and how a vaccine might work. 00:04:47.590 --> 00:04:54.070 Our lab studies the immunology of infectious diseases and so when COVID-19 occurred, we 00:04:54.070 --> 00:04:59.729 were in a unique position to be able to respond because this is sort of what we do, is look 00:04:59.729 --> 00:05:02.780 at how the immune system protects against infection. 00:05:02.780 --> 00:05:08.280 Specifically, as far as a COVID vaccine, what we’ve been doing is developing a vaccine 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:13.050 against a parasitic infection, but it’s a platform with which one can use to develop 00:05:13.050 --> 00:05:19.330 vaccines against COVID-19, so what our research efforts are in the lab is to develop what 00:05:19.330 --> 00:05:22.780 might be a second or third generation vaccine. 00:05:22.780 --> 00:05:29.800 So there’s two unique contributions that we’re making to COVID-19 research through 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:30.800 this lab. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:35.000 So the first is the work of Allie Donlan, who is a graduate student, who has shown that 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:41.669 an allergic immune response, we call a type-2 immune response, actually predisposes to severe 00:05:41.669 --> 00:05:46.740 disease and Allie has been able to show that if you neutralize that type-2 immune response 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:52.229 you actually protect an animal from COVID-19 suggest that we should be able to protect 00:05:52.229 --> 00:05:55.390 people by neutralizing allergic cytokines. 00:05:55.390 --> 00:06:01.810 We’ve seen both in the patient samples and the mouse data that the immune response to 00:06:01.810 --> 00:06:05.889 the disease itself is very variable, and so if we can understand what causes these variations 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:10.449 in the host immune response or the host response in general, we might be able to tailor specific 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:15.599 personalized medicine than say a one-size-fits-all medication. 00:06:15.599 --> 00:06:20.710 The second advance is that Mayuresh Abhyankar, who is an assistant professor in the group, 00:06:20.710 --> 00:06:27.000 has shown that there is an adjuvant, something you add to a vaccine that will promote a long-lived 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.160 antibody response. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:35.620 What we have shown is the immune response lasted for at least six months using our adjuvant 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:40.979 system, so that’s pretty promising and that’s one of the exciting aspects we want to apply 00:06:40.979 --> 00:06:45.280 this platform for the COVID vaccine. 00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:49.819 There is now five vaccines in the US that are in phase 3 clinical trials. 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:55.629 I’m really optimistic and I fully expect that healthcare providers will be vaccinated 00:06:55.629 --> 00:07:00.550 probably at the end of this year or January and then will go to then vaccinating people 00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:06.539 who have underlying illnesses that put them at greatest risk and then finally will be 00:07:06.539 --> 00:07:11.900 to the general public I would imagine by spring/summer of next year, so the vaccine will be widely 00:07:11.900 --> 00:07:12.900 available to everyone 00:07:18.897 --> 00:07:21.939 It’s hard to connect with new people or current friends in this socially distanced 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:26.349 world but we have some suggestions that can get you out of your room and maybe even out 00:07:26.349 --> 00:07:30.220 your comfort zone while still complying with Covid guidelines. 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:35.330 This month, IM-Rec is planning some movie nights in the AFC pool, laser tag, and a Roommate 00:07:35.330 --> 00:07:37.760 Zombie fun run to get you in the holiday spirit. 00:07:37.760 --> 00:07:42.490 Athletics hosted a football watch party Saturday night and hopes to do a few similar events 00:07:42.490 --> 00:07:43.870 this fall. 00:07:43.870 --> 00:07:47.830 You can grab a few friends and take an online yoga class hosted by the Contemplative Sciences 00:07:47.830 --> 00:07:52.360 Center or participate in workshops hosted by Multicultural Student Services like Safe 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.600 Space training and programs exploring identity, power, and privilege. 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:00.439 Check out the @youva.safe on instagram for a list of resources that can help keep you 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.410 up-to-date with opportunities to engage and connect on-line and around grounds. 00:08:05.410 --> 00:08:09.770 This year, the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers officially opened across from Bodos on the 00:08:09.770 --> 00:08:12.200 corner, or the other side of Brooks Hall. 00:08:12.200 --> 00:08:17.070 Completion of the Memorial is the culmination of years of work, including student activism. 00:08:17.070 --> 00:08:21.139 Thanks to the many groups of students, faculty, and staff who pushed to make this long-overdue 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:23.168 recognition a reality. 00:08:23.168 --> 00:08:27.156 Let’s hear more from an amazing individual, alumna Jess Harris. 00:08:30.700 --> 00:08:35.320 In order for us to continue to move forward in striving for equity and striving for change, 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:38.220 we have to be able to talk about our past, in a way that's really meaningful. 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:40.800 And the Memorial I think is a beautiful first step 00:08:40.800 --> 00:08:43.060 in starting that conversation. 00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:49.780 It's intended to be a space for reflection and healing, 00:08:49.780 --> 00:08:51.860 it's a space of truth-telling. 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:55.960 We want folks to bring classes here, we want folks to engage in that way. 00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:02.050 Slavery wasn't an experience that by any means should just be something in our past that 00:09:02.050 --> 00:09:03.460 we say happened and we can't talk about it. 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:07.147 We should help folks heal past that trauma and past the brutality of it. 00:09:13.545 --> 00:09:17.960 The first thing design wise that greets you when you come in the Memorial is this broken 00:09:17.960 --> 00:09:18.960 shackle image. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:21.650 It represents this freedom from physical bondage. 00:09:21.650 --> 00:09:25.670 There's the path towards the North Star and that was the path towards freedom. 00:09:25.670 --> 00:09:30.250 And then a second path that kind of aligns with the sunset on March 3, which is Liberation 00:09:30.250 --> 00:09:31.250 and Freedom Day. 00:09:31.250 --> 00:09:34.770 It is 80 feet which matches the diameter of the Rotunda 00:09:34.770 --> 00:09:40.270 taking up that space that is so rightly deserved in honoring this legacy. 00:09:40.270 --> 00:09:43.850 There is the timeline of events that happened all the way through 00:09:43.850 --> 00:09:45.570 Isabella Gibbons death. 00:09:45.570 --> 00:09:48.970 Isabella Gibbons was a member of the enslaved community and she 00:09:48.970 --> 00:09:54.500 really took it upon herself to encourage reflection and encourage moving the needle towards equity 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:59.140 and equality and so her eyes are on the back of the Memorial. 00:09:59.140 --> 00:10:03.430 I would encourage everyone if they can, come witness it in person, feel the stone, see 00:10:03.430 --> 00:10:08.580 the timeline, be here and be present and take a second to reflect, honor, 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:12.571 and encourage folks to move forward with that history. 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:22.510 Hit the @YOUva team on instagram or email us at youva@virginia.edu.This has been Zeno 00:10:22.510 --> 00:10:24.830 and I'm out like a light. 00:10:24.830 --> 00:10:36.180 We come from old Virginia where all is bright and gay. 00:10:36.180 --> 00:10:46.790 Let’s all join hands and give a yell for dear old UVA. 00:10:46.790 --> 00:10:52.500 For dear old UVA.