Josette Zammit waits eagerly at the entrance to her care home for the elderly and, when someone she knows passes by, enthusiastically announces: “My sister’s picking me up today.”

After a year of agonising confinement, new government rules came into effect this week that allow residents to leave the homes for outings with fully vaccinated family members.

Josette, 77, was among the first to take advantage of the new guidelines at Casa Arkati, in Mosta. She was able to hold her younger sister, Georgette Farrugia Sacco’s hand for the first time in almost year, who was allowed in, albeit after a temperature check.

“I was very happy today to see Georgette,” Josette says, with tears in her eyes.

“I have been looking forward for so long. I missed her.”

Georgette, 74, adds: “We have been speaking on Facebook every day. But it’s not the same. We last met last summer and, in Christmas, I came to wave from the beneath her balcony. But now, finally, we can meet.”

When the coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020, care homes implemented strict restrictive measures to protect their vulnerable residents from contracting the virus.

For many months, residents were confined to their rooms and visits were not allowed.

As curbs were slowly lifted, they were allowed out of their rooms. From this month, restrictions were eased further with in-person visits allowed.

Back in February, Josette – then locked in her room – told Times of Malta about the hardship and loneliness she was enduring. It had been a particularly difficult time for her as she lost both her husband, Carmelo, and a brother within a few months of each other.

The sisters describe how they were separated before, as very young children, when their mother died of breast cancer. Georgette was only one and Josette was four. When their father eventually remarried, some eight years later, they moved out with different relatives: Georgette lived with her aunt, while Josette stayed with her grandmother. Although they met regularly they missed each other. Then, after about nine years, they moved in together and have been inseparable ever since.

They both got married and, for many years, they did not have children. Then, when Georgette was 50 years old, she got pregnant after over 20 years married. Even though it was Georgette who gave birth, they both became mothers to Georgie, who today is 23.

“Georgie is very close to my sister,” says Georgette. “When Georgie was eight months old, I fell off a step ladder, breaking both wrists and cracking my ribs. I could not do anything. We moved in with my sister and her husband for five weeks. My sister used to clean Georgie, feed her and wash me.”

Josette adds: “I became so close to her. She is like my daughter. When it’s Mothers’ Day she buys a present for her mother and another one for me as ‘my second mum’,” she says.

Now, they walk together to Josette’s room where the important people in her life are displayed in a series of photographs. There are many photos of Georgie as a child and adult.

This residential facility has been Josette’s home for four years. She moved in with her husband because she had to undergo a slipped-disc operation and her husband had heart problems. Before that, they had lived in their marital home in Balzan for 45 years.

Like many residents, Josette has not been home since the virus pandemic, so this is where her sister drives her on their first outing.

“I want to go check that all is OK and get some clothes. I would not manage to go alone. It’s too painful,” she said.

“There are too many memories. So my sister will be with me, as always.”