Drew Brees, Wife Donate $5 Million to Fight Coronavirus as Louisiana Becomes Inundated with Patients
New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees and his wife, Brittany, are committing a donation of $5 million to the state of Louisiana to fight COVID-19.
According to Faithwire, along with his generous donation, Brees will also be working with multiple partnering companies “to prepare and deliver over 10,000 meals per day throughout Louisiana for as long as it takes to children on meal programs, seniors, and families in need.”
“Let’s all do our part, maintain hope, and get through this together,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday.
The coronavirus pandemic hit home for Brees and his team when it was announced that the Saints’ head coach, Sean Payton, was diagnosed with the virus.
According to ESPN, Payton, 56, told WWL radio on Wednesday that he is on the road to recovery. Payton shared that he has been without a fever for “eight or nine days, after experiencing symptoms on March 15, and being tested the next day.”
“I’m doing well. I was cleared yesterday,” Payton said. “It’s been quite a process. You spend a lot of time trying to learn as much as you can about it. We’re certainly seeing it on the news 24/7,” he added.
As hospitals become overwhelmed, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) placed a stay at home order that closed nonessential businesses, along with bars and clubs, WSDU reports.
Additionally, many Louisiana residents are facing unemployment. According to numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor, last week, more than 70,000 Louisianans applied for unemployment benefits.
As of yesterday, the state of Louisiana has more than 2,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 83 deaths, 997 cases in New Orleans, and 676 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
On Tuesday, Edwards noted that “It is still impossible to know exactly how long the COVID-19 pandemic will impact Louisiana, but what we do know is that we have more cases per capita than every state, except New York and Washington.”
According to Dr. Joshua Denson, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, it appears that COVID-19 may have spread during the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans.
“Someone brought it here,” he explained, “and then it starts spreading slowly.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Jonathan Bachman/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.
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