Each passing day feels like another step toward normalcy in Davis.
More and more of us are vaccinated. We remain committed to following public health guidelines, including regular testing. The reward is that family and friends are reuniting. We are beginning to enjoy life outside of the pandemic bubble.
One of the key reasons we鈥檝e made it this far is because of . This joint initiative between 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and the city of Davis is keeping our community safe through widespread testing, contact tracing and vaccine clinics. Public health messaging has also been critical. Through Healthy Davis Together, our university and town are national role models for how higher education, innovation and civic leadership come together.
It takes a remarkable amount of teamwork to run a program like Healthy Davis Together 鈥 HDT for short. You need civic leaders who value communication and collaboration, especially in working with the university. You need a community that鈥檚 eager to participate and keeps public health at top of mind.
And you can鈥檛 have HDT without 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.
University research plays a key role
Our university鈥檚 Genome Center has been at the heart of Healthy Davis Together since it launched in late 2020. The program鈥檚 rapid saliva-based testing is thanks to the innovation of plant sciences professor Richard Michelmore and his team at the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Genome Center.
They repurposed machines that are more commonly used in agricultural genetics. These array-tape machines can run thousands of tests a day, far more than machines built specifically for medical diagnostics. The Genome Center has since processed more than 400,000 saliva samples.
Our efforts to support students in alignment with public health guidelines was led by Dr. Cindy Schorzman, the medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services. She was on the front lines from the first days of the pandemic and remains a key leader in our ongoing work.
Dr. Brad Pollock and his team viewed the COVID-19 crisis through the scientific lens of a public health crisis. They studied missteps at other universities. They were adamant to not make those same mistakes.
Pollock is professor of epidemiology, chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences and associate dean for public health sciences at the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis School of Medicine. 鈥淲hat does it mean to keep your campus well when everyone else is getting sick around you? The university is part of the community.鈥 This statement epitomizes how 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis thought about HDT from the beginning of COVID-19.
We are grateful to our students for their commitment to keeping themselves and the community safe. They demonstrated this by participating in 鈥渟taycation鈥 activities that were supported through HDT grants during Halloween and spring break.
HDT continues to focus on keeping the broader community top of mind. In recent weeks, HDT has expanded into other communities in Yolo County, including vaccination clinics in West Sacramento and Woodland.
It hasn鈥檛 been easy
Will all this said, there鈥檚 no doubt that it鈥檚 been a year of loss and sacrifices. Many of us have experienced personal trauma in a number of ways because of the pandemic. It鈥檚 been hard and recovery will take time.
However, the partnership between 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis and the city is stronger than ever. We鈥檝e come together during the greatest public health crisis of our times, kept our community as safe as possible and communicated like never before.
As we look ahead to turning a big corner this month, please get vaccinated and continue to get tested regularly. We have much to celebrate in June, including graduation, Father鈥檚 Day, Pride Month and Juneteenth. We鈥檝e come a long way together. We鈥檙e better prepared than ever to handle future challenges together.