Did anyone else not know trachea transplants were really really hard until this morning?

Happening in the World: North Korea announced that its athletes would not be participating in the Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about COVID-19, making it the only country to withdraw so far. This decision dashes South Korea’s president’s hopes that the games could be used as a way to engage with the North despite stalled cross-border talks. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Mt. Sinai surgeon Dr. Eric Genden has performed the first complete surgical trachea transplant on Bronx resident Sonia Sein. After a long history of research and failed transplants, this eighteen hour surgery was successful in allowing Sein to breathe freely without the help of a tracheostomy tube. (NPR)

Happening in NYC: Yesterday, it was announced that Coney Island Amusement Park would be reopening this Friday, April 9th, at 33% capacity with various safety measures in place, including mandated social distancing and temperature checks. In addition to many of the boardwalk concession stands reopening, there will also be several new rides to try. (Gothamist)

Happening in the Columbia Community: Tonight at 7:30, SVR is hosting the 15th annual Jeanne Clery Lecture Series featuring sex educators Francisco Ramirez and Bianca Laureano. They will be discussing how to navigate sex and relationships during COVID-19, focusing on consent, respect, and mental health. (Event)

Poem: Possibly the best piece ever included in a Columbia syllabus, Look by Solmaz Sharif is a documentary poetry book filled with tenderness and catastrophe; here is my favorite, “Vulnerability Study.”

Surgeons via Pixnio