Aussies everywhere are crying, and so are you.

Happening in the World: Australian officials have announced their plans to reopen the countries borders for Australian citizens in November. After one year and a half of strict border restrictions, Australian citizens will soon be able to indulge in international travel, should their state have an 80% vaccination rate. Previously, Australians were only allowed to leave for exceptional reasons and were required to pay approximately $2,100 in hotel fees to fulfill the government mandated quarantine (BBC).

Happening in the US: The Drug Enforcement Administration has made 810 arrests and seized over 1.8 million fake pills as a part of a two-month opioid fentanyl bust. DEA laboratory tests determined that approximately 4 out of every 10 pills contained lethal doses of fentanyl due to poor quality control. The drug, widely disguised as prescription medication such as Xanax and Percocet, accounted for about three-fourths of all drug overdoses in the United States in 2020 (CNN).

Happening in NYC: One of the largest jail facilities on Rikers Island is under lockdown as a result of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak amongst inmates. The outbreak is attributed to a shortage of staff that resulted in lenient patrolling of newly arrived detainees. Notably, the Department of Correction also holds the title for the lowest vaccination rate amongst all New York City agencies, resulting in high officer absenteeism due to COVID-19 related issues (Gothamist).

Happening in Our Community: Columbia welcomes Yale professor Rong Fan as he presents “Space Adventure: The Next Wave of Biology Revolution Fueled by Spatial Omics Technologies”. A new addition to Columbia’s Biomedical Engineering speaker series, Professor Fan will discuss the emergence of spatial omics. To learn more, click here!

Australian citizens via Bwarchives