The Evening: U.S. Death Toll, Aid Package, Jazz Fest in Place and More

April 23, 2020

Death Toll Surpasses 47,700

The official death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in the United States surpassed 47,000, with the number of total reported cases approaching 850,000. And preliminary results from a study in New York found that nearly 14 percent of 3,000 people tested in the state had developed antibodies to fight the coronavirus, suggesting that they were previously infected, as the Washington Post reports.

Dive Deeper: “Covid-19 in the D.C. Area: Should We Be Concerned or Optimistic?” by CSIS’s Steve Morrison.

House Set to Vote on Aid Package

The House is set to vote on $484 billion in additional aid, as the NYT reports.

4.4 Million Americans Seek Unemployment Benefits

About 4.4 million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hurt the labor market, though the rapid pace of layoffs appeared to be easing, as the WSJ reports.

On the Horizon

In The Covid-19 crisis will change the Europe we have known for the past 70 years. What is on the short- and long-term horizon once the dust has settled? CSIS's Europe Program director Heather Conley explains how Covid-19 is impacting the European Union.

CSIS’s “On the Horizon” series offers insights into the more fundamental changes we might anticipate for our future social and economic world as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CSIS Executive Education

We invite you to apply to Unpacking the Defense Enterprise, a a three-day live, online course exploring defense strategy, budgetary and technical issues, and future challenges and opportunities in the U.S. defense enterprise.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Testify,” "What's Happening," "Preview," and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

4.4 Million

About 4.4 million Americans applied for jobless benefits in the week ended April 18, the Labor Department said today. Workers have filed more than 26 million unemployment insurance claims in the past five weeks.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“Against the background of rising ethno-nationalism, populism, authoritarianism, and a pushback against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext to adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic. This is unacceptable.”

— U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

iDeas Lab

On April 7, Japan's government declared a national emergency in Tokyo, encouraging social distancing and telework to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. New satellite imagery of intersections near the Imperial Palace show how these measures have altered traffic patterns in the city.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and video.

Optics

(Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images). Nancy Pelosi arrives at the Capitol today.

Recommended Reading

“Here are the innovations we need to reopen the economy,” by Bill Gates for the Washington Post.

Online Events

Tomorrow, at 9:00 a.m., CSIS’s Project on Prosperity and Development will host a panel of experts to address how the civic sector can assist Covid-19 response and recovery efforts.

Later, at 2:00 p.m., the Center for Global Development will host Philippe Le Houérou, CEO of the International Finance Corporation, for a conversation on the role of international financial institutions in supporting the private sector through an unprecedented health and economic crisis.

Also, at 2:00 p.m., the Alliance for Health Policy will host the 12th session of its Covid-19 webinar series. This session will explore the U.S. health surveillance infrastructure as we move from mitigation to containment.

Video

CSIS hosted a conversation with Ahmed Saeed, a vice president at the Asian Development Bank, on the role of the Bank in assisting its member countries' pandemic response. Watch the event here.

Podcasts

In the latest episode, I spoke with both Laura Silver of the Pew Research Center and David Sanger of the New York Times to discuss views of U.S.-China relations in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Smiles

Well, today would mark the opening day of the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I was scheduled to be there with one of my sons who was to also visit Tulane this weekend (he’s a high school junior). Two of my staff members were also planning to attend (both Tulane alum) who contribute to writing the Evening and many of my friends. Rather than dwell on what we are missing, my thoughts and prayers go out to Tulane University and to the people of New Orleans who have been hit hard by Covid-19.

The people of New Orleans are resilient—everyone knows that. Take for instance what is known as the heartbeat of the Crescent City, its listener supported radio station, WWOZ. This weekend and next, they are broadcasting “Jazz Festing In Place: An On Air Festival.” They have curated some of the best performances from over the years and scheduled them into the set “cubes” that we are used to looking at when attending Jazz Fest and browsing the daily schedule. You can view WWOZ’s schedule here: https://www.wwoz.org/calendar/live-broadcast. WWOZ has a wonderful app from which you can stream all of it.

People always ask what the best performance I ever saw at Jazz Fest was. Hard to say. There were so many. The Neville Brothers, Meters, Radiators, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Allen Toussaint, Marcia Ball, Daniel Lanois, the Gaturs, Chocolate Milk, Wild Magnolias, CJ Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, Marva Wright, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins, Galactic, Snooks Eaglin, Jon Mooney, Fats Domino, Little Feat, Champion Jack Dupree, Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt and Carlos Santana to name a few.

But this performance by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble from the second weekend in 1990 may have been the most mesmerizing. I will never forget it. SRV wasn’t from New Orleans, but he embodied Jazz Fest spirit and was an adopted son of the City that Care Forgot. This is his entire, historic set from that day. Smile.