Drew Brees and his wife Brittany have announced they will be donating $5million to help the state of Louisiana.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback will work in conjunction with a number of local organisations to provide aid during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Brees has been in New Orleans since 2006 and recently signed a new two-year contract to extend his stay with the Saints, whose head coach Sean Payton tested positive for COVID-19 before being cleared on Wednesday.

        View this post on Instagram                   Brittany and I are committing $5,000,000 to the State of Louisiana in 2020. The priority now is helping our communities get through this tough time. After considerable research and conversations with local organizations, we will be mobilizing our partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems, Walk-Ons, Jimmy Johns, Smalls Sliders and Waitr 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. A post shared by Drew Brees (@drewbrees) on Mar 26, 2020 at 8:31am PDT

There have been over 75,000 confirmed cases in the United States so far, with the virus claiming more than 22,000 lives around the world.

"After considerable research and conversations with local organisations, we will be mobilising our partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems, Walk-Ons, Jimmy Johns, Smalls Sliders and Waitr 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," Brees wrote in a post on Instagram.

 "Let's all do our part, maintain hope, and get through this together."

Brees, 41, has thrown for 77,416 yards and 547 touchdowns in an NFL career that started with the San Diego Chargers.