封鎖下の９歳男児、ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９退治ゲームを開発　伊

【ミラノＡＦＰ＝時事】ロックダウン（都市封鎖）下で多くの子どもたちが自宅学習と悪戦苦闘する中、イタリア・ミラノ郊外に住むルーポ・ダトゥリ君（9）は、新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）と戦いを繰り広げている。ただし、仮想空間の中でだ。（写真は自作したビデオゲーム「セルバ-20」の画面を見せるルーポ君）
　ミラノでは先月８日から封鎖措置が取られているが、４年生のルーポ君は友達と一緒に遊ぶため、ビデオゲームの開発に自分の時間を費やしてきた。
　ルーポ君は「新型コロナウイルスのせいでスポーツがまったくできなくなった」といい、父親のマルコさんとの共通の趣味であるプログラミングに目を向けた。
　そしてオンライン講義を幾つか受講し、自作のビデオゲーム「セルバ-２０（Ｃｅｒｂａ-２０）」の開発に着手した。
　ゲームの内容はよくある「敵を見つけて倒す」ことだが、ユニークな点は、プレーヤーは宇宙船セルバ-２０の船長であり、そしてもちろん、敵はＣＯＶＩＤ-１９であることだ。
　ルーポ君は友達とゲームを楽しんでいると同時に、プログラムのやり方を友達に教える計画も進めるつもりだという。
　ロックダウンでゲームばかりしている子がいる親はルーポ君の新計画に懸念を示すかもしれないが、ルーポ君の母親で弁護士のフランチェスカ・ザンボニンさんは心配しておらず、「自分のためになることに熱中しているのでうれしい」と話している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/04/28-13:04）

While most nine-year-olds have been battling during lockdown with the vagaries of home schooling, Lupo Daturi has been waging war on COVID-19 itself. Virtually.
The fourth-grade pupil from the outskirts of Milan, where inhabitants have been living in lockdown since March 8, has used his time to create a video game to play with his friends.
I had to stop all the sports I did because of COVID-19, he says.
I can't even go to the pond with my dog. Instead of playing sports -- skiing, swimming and karate -- I have to make do with an exercise bike.
That led Lupo to turn his attention to progamming, a passion that he shares with his father Marco, a business manager.
He took some online tutorials and set to work on building his game -- Cerba-20.
The aim of the game is a fairly typical 'seek and destroy' with lasers, except in this case, the player is in the captain's chair of the Cerba-20 spacecraft and the enemy is, that's right, COVID-19.
Lupo explains that he plays with his friends and that he now intends to set up a project to teach them how to programme.
He also receives requests from his teachers to programme something useful, not just games, says his father.
Many parents with children who have been gorging themselves on video games during lockdown might be concerned by Lupo's new interest..But his mother, a lawyer, dismisses such anxieties.
I'm not worried because my son is not a 'nerd', says 44-year-old Francesca Zambonin, who is just happy because he is passionate about something that can help him.
The fact that he invented a game that has gone viral makes me happy because it motivates him to do even more.