BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston Red Sox announced Wednesday that they will be teaming up with city health officials to facilitate COVID-19 testing for members of the Boston Teachers’ Union.
Through the end of the year, a randomized sample of teachers will be tested from across the city with an oversampling of teachers working in neighborhoods with COVID-19 rates higher than 8 percent, according to a release issued by the team.
“Our first priority is the health and safety of our students, teachers, and everyone in our Boston Public Schools community,” said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “This testing program is one way we can support our teachers as they get ready to head back to their classrooms for in-person learning. We thank the Red Sox and Major League Baseball for partnering with us on this program, and the Boston Public Health Commission for organizing and implementing this weekly testing plan.”
The tests are being provided to the City free of cost through MLB’s COVID-19 community testing program.
“As part of Major League Baseball’s COVID-19 testing program, the league wanted to ensure there was opportunity to extend their testing benefits beyond the clubs and players, and into the communities where teams operate,” said Red Sox President Sam Kennedy. “We are grateful to MLB for giving us this opportunity to partner with the City of Boston and help with their back-to-school rollout.”
Testing will be conducted by the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was established to ensure that the testing of players and staff throughout the 2020 MLB season does not compete with public health testing needs.
“We are grateful to the Red Sox and their commitment to helping us ensure safety and health in our schools during this pandemic,” said Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang. “We hope that the early success of this initiative will enable us to explore further expansion of such efforts as we continue to keep health and safety a priority for our students and educators in order to head back into buildings for critical in-person services and learning.”
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)