Happy Friday! By the time you’re reading this, Joe Biden may have already appeared on Morning Joe to finally address the sexual assault allegation made against him by Tara Reade. How did he do? 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• As of Thursday night, there are now 1,069,424 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States (an increase of 29,515/2.8 percent since yesterday) and 62,996 deaths (an increase of 2,029/3.3 percent increase since yesterday), according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, leading to a mortality rate among confirmed cases of 5.9 percent (the true mortality rate is likely much lower, but it’s impossible to determine precisely due to incomplete testing regimens). Of 6,231,182 coronavirus tests conducted in the United States (205,012 conducted since yesterday), 17.2 percent have come back positive. Meanwhile, 153,947 have recovered from the virus (an increase of 33,227/27.5 percent since yesterday). 

• Another 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, putting the total number of jobless claims in recent weeks at more than 30 million. The stock market, meanwhile, wrapped up April by posting its greatest monthly gains since January 1987.

• Another round of protests erupted at the Michigan Capitol yesterday, as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer clashed with the state’s GOP-led legislature over whether to prolong Michigan’s state of emergency.