Christmas has, once again, been cancelled for thousands but some people spending it in quarantine are taking it in their stride, counting their blessings, seeking the spiritual side and trying to make the most of rare and calm family time indoors.

Among the 6,500 confined to their homes – and bedrooms – as the pandemic continues to overshadow the festivities, is Pippa Zammit Cutajar, whose 21-year-old son, Sam, caught COVID-19.

“I am just about to decide what cupboard I am going to clean today,” she joked, quickly adding that she is not complaining.

Zammit Cutajar recognises they are lucky to be living in an apartment overlooking the Sliema Front, which means they can watch life go by.

They can also see each other on a connecting balcony, where they have had breakfast apart in the fresh air, depending on Sam’s now “upside-down” sleeping patterns.

“There are cases of old women living alone in dark streets,” she acknowledged.

Being Christmas, quarantine is more of a burden, she conceded, having been unable to shop for her Secret Santa present, although good friends have helped out.

The Zammit Cutajars would have had Christmas lunch with members of the family, including her 97-year-old mother. Instead, the meal will be delivered by her sister from up the road and they will eat it alone.

Zammit Cutajar’s main gripe about the whole situation is the “ridiculous” length of quarantine – until midnight on the 14th day of diagnosis and not even from the first symptoms – “unlike other countries”.

She also fails to understand why rapid at-home test kits are not readily available in Malta. If negative, at least Sam could exit his bedroom and they could watch a movie together.

“He has been on his PlayStation and is whiling away the time but, at his age, he obviously misses being out with his friends,” she said.

They should be out of isolation by next week and Zammit Cutajar will be walking along the seafront early the following morning before heading straight for her booster while Sam is planning to ring in the New Year “the way people of his age look forward to it”.

A blessing… so far

Irene Borg and her family of five are locked up for both Christmas and New Year after her eldest daughter tested positive and has a bad cold.

“She was feeling guilty about ‘ruining Christmas’,” her mother said, having had to persuade her to accept that some things happen that are “beyond our control”.

Other than that, Borg, a teacher, maintains the situation is completely different this year in that there is no more fear of the unknown.

Her family is trying to enjoy each other’s company and to “see it as a blessing because we rarely ever have so much time together”. 

So far, they have been excited about the novelty of waking up when they want, taking it easy, catching up on home chores and watching loads of TV series, ordering in and eating good food... “I am loving being home and the children look so at peace because they rarely ever have us both here for long stretches.

“So far, we are unusually calm,” Borg, whose husband is an emergency doctor at Mater Dei Hospital, said about the “crazy lives we live” and feeling that quarantine was finally giving her space to reflect.

“I am excited to see who I will become by the end of it. It had to be this horrible virus to shake some of us up.”

The Borgs are aware quarantine over Christmas could bring about much pain for others and, in particular, for those whose businesses will suffer.

Their children adore Christmas and “despite the good that will come out of these two weeks, not being able to go out and experience it with friends is still a let-down”.

But the parents are keeping spirits high “with a little help from our northern friends, the elves” while the family pets are also proving to be therapeutic.

“We are also looking forward to celebrating the birth of Christ in a more genuine way than usual, away from the inevitable noise and other distractions, so this is also adding the spiritual benefit.”

Christmas lunch up in the air

Peter-Jan Grech’s family have also adopted a positive approach, acknowledging that “things could have been worse”.

They are due out of quarantine just in time on Christmas Eve and have shifted a long-awaited trip abroad to Christmas Day instead.

“Yes, we will have Christmas lunch on a plane and the truth is that, arriving on December 25, is the equivalent of arriving on our Boxing Day, when the party is over,” Grech said, explaining that the big festivities are held on the eve in Sweden.

Last year’s trip to visit his wife’s family did not happen due to COVID-19 and this year’s was a close shave.

Instead, on Christmas Eve, they will attempt to celebrate together online, although he is doubtful how much more screen time his kids can handle and for how long they would engage with it.

“While it has been disappointing, it is not a big drama and we appreciate that things could have been much worse,” the father of three said.

The Grechs ended up in quarantine when two classmates of his middle son tested positive for COVID-19.

That sent the children in the class and their entire families into isolation for two weeks, a health measure Grech feels is “a bit exaggerated”.

“There must be smarter ways of doing this, rather than locking up families for two whole weeks,” he said, suggesting responsible monitoring of the situation through rapid self-testing so negative cases could continue with their lives.

While the family was coping well with being locked down, Grech, the CEO of a leading creative agency, thinks of those who can’t work from home and are required on the job.

“I would not want to be in the shoes of the health authorities either right now, having to make these decisions about measures,” he said.