Campuses in Orange County starting to return to pandemic normal

After three weeks of online courses to start the winter quarter, UC Irvine students returned to classrooms in person on Monday – with masking and vaccination requirements – as the county appears to be coming off an omicron-fueled winter surge of coronavirus. The decision to resume in-person instruction was based on several factors, including declines in new cases and the percentage of tests coming back positive and the availability of beds for isolation and quarantine, said David Souleles, director of UCI’s COVID-19 Response Team.