- Credibility:
HYDE PARK — Chicago Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward donated $100,000 to UChicago Medicine to help health care workers and assist in contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Half of Heyward’s donation will go to the hospital’s Healthcare Heroes Fund, which covers expenses for frontline workers, including temporary housing. The donation will also go contact tracing efforts across the South Side.
The donation helps the hospital set up a team of contact tracers for the South Side after partnering with the South Side Healthcare Collaborative. South Side neighborhoods have seen large clusters of coronavirus cases over the past few months. Officials have cited several reasons for the high number of cases in predominantly Black communities, from large populations of essential workers to wide-ranging health care disparities from historic disinvestment.
“Through this donation, I want to help ease the personal burdens on our health care heroes and support efforts aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, especially in vulnerable communities hit hard by the virus,” Heyward said in a press release.
Chicago has seen a decline in the virus with an average of 161 new confirmed cases each day, according to a tweet from Mayor Lori Lightfoot Tuesday.
The entire state reported 14 deaths Monday, its fewest single-day number of coronavirus deaths in three months. Coronavirus cases in Illinois now total more than 140,000.
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