·¬ÇÑÉçÇø

The search for virus-resistant material

A Q and A with Manager, Emergency Planning Rob Johns about UVic's emergency response structure and the pre-planning that is done year-round, the foundation for UVic’s rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During BC Seniors’ Week, psychologist Stuart MacDonald is available to media to discuss the risks of social isolation on seniors, a demographic being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cecilia Benoit, a scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) and professor emerita with the Department of Sociology, has been awarded the 2020 Killam Prize in Social Sciences from the Canada Council for the Arts

A low-cost screening test that can be used from your home and read in minutes could change how public health officials track and control the spread of COVID-19.

From advocating for the recognition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous midwives, to working with street-involved youth, to empowering sex workers to become their own health advocates, sociologist Cecilia Benoit has made vital contributions to the advancement of class, race and gender equality in Canada. CISUR scientist and sociology professor emerita at UVic has been awarded the 2020 Killam Prize in Social Sciences.

Wash basins made with COVID-19-resistant material may be popping up in malls and other crowded places, once the work of a UVic researcher and BC manufacturer is complete.

UVic alumni are working around the clock to produce ventilators at Victoria-based StarFish Medical. The project is one of four that will collectively supply 30,000 ventilators to the Canadian market.

Managing alcohol in COVID

UVic theatre alumnus Charles Ross will livestream his popular interstellar romp through Star Wars on May 4 to help support an emergency fund for students experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. Money raised will go toward students who have lost their jobs, face housing issues or have trouble paying for food or tuition.

Since the American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and UVic instructor Nigel Howard started interpreting for the BC government’s daily COVID-19 updates, several social media pages have sprung up in appreciation, the largest of which has 3,700 followers.

UVic geographer Jutta Gutberlet, who works with waste-pickers—or binners, as they’re often called— in Victoria and Brazil says the COVID-19 pandemic has hit this population hard. On Earth Day, Gutberlet talks about her efforts to share health information to help keep these workers, who play an important role in diverting waste from landfill, safe.

The COVID-19 crisis has shown that pandemics belong as much to the present as the past. From Ebola to HIV/AIDs to Zika, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø historian Mitchell Hammond says disease has played an increasingly significant role in global affairs in recent decades. Hammond shares what we can learn from the pandemics of the past.

In order to measure the effectiveness of physical-distancing strategies on COVID-19, we must turn to mathematical and computer simulation models like the ones being developed by ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø statistical mathematician Junling Ma.

UVic has delivered more than 200 litres of hand sanitizer—enough for about 65,000 single doses—for use by Island Health, whose front-line workers are in the thick of responding to the health crisis. UVic chemist David Leitch led the effort to plan and execute a manufacturing campaign consistent with stringent Health Canada standards, using supplies already on hand.

A new UVic initiative is building face shields for frontline health workers as we face a worldwide shortage of disposable face masks.