[ti:Program Collects Smartphones for Coronavirus Patients to Use] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]It is one of the many cruelties of the pandemic. [00:05.40]To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many people hospitalized with COVID-19 cannot have visitors. [00:16.48]This means the patients are unable to celebrate life events with loved ones – or even say a final goodbye. [00:26.40]Kaya Suner came up with a solution. [00:30.20]The 19-year-old from Rhode Island found a way to collect used smartphones and tablets [00:38.88]and get them to patients suffering from the disease. [00:44.04]The devices can help the patients communicate with their friends and family. [00:50.64]His idea has started to spread. [00:54.40]"Kaya, you're 19, but you're a superstar, you're a hero," [01:00.40]Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo, said at a news conference in April. [01:07.84]Raimondo's son donated an iPad to the cause. [01:13.08]The idea came from Suner's desire to help. [01:16.96]He considered making protective face coverings. [01:20.88]But his parents, both emergency room doctors, inspired him to do more. [01:29.24]One day, Suner was talking online with his mother, who is living separately from her son [01:36.24]because her job puts her at a higher risk of getting sick. [01:41.00]His mother told him that many of her patients are old [01:45.56]and have no way to stay in touch with loved ones while they are hospitalized. [01:52.40]Feelings of loneliness are common among the patients. [01:57.40]"There's no way for these sick patients to communicate with their loved ones [02:02.16]due to the visitation ban in hospitals," Suner said. [02:06.48]"It's really unfortunate that that's what's going on..." [02:11.40]So, he and a friend asked for donations of used smartphones and tablets to give to those patients. [02:20.16]They started with a simple request on Facebook. [02:24.36]That effort developed into covidconnectors.org. [02:29.52]The website lets people donate "gently used" devices that can record video. [02:37.16]Patients have used the donated devices for everything from celebrating birthdays [02:44.00]and meeting new grandchildren to saying final goodbyes, Suner said. [02:50.96]"One family member said that they had someone in the hospital who wanted their last rites read," he said. [02:58.84]"We were able to get an iPad to them..." [03:01.92]The program has been a success. [03:04.92]In fact, the needs of Rhode Island's coronavirus patients have been met. [03:11.28]The program is now collecting devices for medical centers in nearby Massachusetts and New Hampshire. [03:19.64]Suner hopes to expand into New York soon. [03:24.00]He is concerned that as some states start to reopen, [03:29.12]people will think there is no need for donations. [03:32.80]But, he said, that is not the case. [03:36.20]"This is still a really, really large issue inside of hospitals," he said. [03:43.24]I'm Ashley Thompson. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM