The only way for COVID-19 patients to get in touch with their loved ones while recovering from their illness is through their smartphones. They are not in contact with anyone except health care workers, so it can be a pretty lonely recovery period. Three of the U.S.’s top carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are partnering with iHeartMedia and are donating thousands of phone chargers to make sure that patients can stay in touch with the outside world.
While of course the number one thing that patients can do is to rest and recover, being able to see their loved ones even through their smartphones can do wonders for their well-being. What these carriers are doing with this partnership can seem like a small thing but it’s pretty important too in that aspect. T-Mobile says that the three carriers combined will be donating almost 40,000 chargers to various hospitals in the country.
T-Mobile has already donated 20,000 chargers to hospitals in Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and San Diego. Verizon is giving to healthcare providers in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. AT&T did not specify which places they were donating to except to say that it will be the cities that are hardest hit by the virus so it will probably be among the aforementioned cities as well.
Of course the carriers already have their own individual efforts in terms of response and relief efforts in the different aspects of the fight against COVID-19. This charger donation and campaign is just another small but significant thing that they can do. For its part, iHeartMedia will be promoting this campaign across its platforms including radio, digital, and social media and maybe get the chargers to the hospitals that need it.
As AT&T said, battling the illness is already pretty difficult and so staying connected shouldn’t be as hard. The Center for Disease Control estimates that patients spend 10-13 days in the hospital and most of the time in isolation. Getting them connected to their loved ones can help in their battle.
