A woman who looked after her coronavirus-stricken family speaks of how the construction noise next door made her experience almost impossible to bear.

Janet spent weeks carrying food-filled trays up and down the stairs of her Sliema home to her husband and son as they isolated themselves in their bedrooms after contracting COVID-19.

That, however, was not the worst part of her emotional experience. What she felt crushed her was the construction racket next door.

“I remained quite positive overall. But I was feeling like one of those terrorists with a ticking timebomb strapped to me that could explode at any point,” said the 56-year-old woman, who preferred to remain anonymous.

She was, of course, worried that she would get the virus, and would be close to breakdown in the afternoons.

“That was when I really needed a break. But how could I even have a 15-minute nap with all the noise generated by the construction happening behind my house? The emotional stress was just too much,” she said.

Janet shared her story after the Richmond Foundation last month said that construction work was affecting the mental health of people who have no choice but to stay at home because of the pandemic.

She could relate to it. For the past year and a half building works have been under way on a block of apartments adjacent to her back garden.

They start at 6.45am – drilling, chasing and banging away till 5pm

“They start at 6.45am – drilling, chasing and banging away till 5pm. Shouting and yelling to each other and dust flying everywhere,” she said.

“And we, while obeying rules and regulations to stop the virus from spreading and doing our civic duty, have to sit in our houses.

“I have no choice but to endure this noise pollution, including in the afternoon when my husband and I need to rest to cope with the rest of the day indoors. It’s affecting me and my mental health. It’s a helpless situation,” she added.

Living with coronavirus

In February, Janet and her husband travelled to India with friends for a holiday that was meant to last three weeks. But they returned early after hearing coronavirus had started spreading and the first case was detected in Malta.

The couple met their 23-year-old son in the UK and they returned together. They entered mandatory quarantine while Janet’s 25-year-old daughter moved out to a family-owned apartment nearby.

One week into quarantine, Janet’s son started developing symptoms and a swab showed he was positive for the virus. A couple of days later her husband, 61, tested positive too.

Both experienced mild symptoms, although her husband was hospitalised for two days as a precaution when he felt a shortness of breath. Both went into isolation and Janet moved into the spare bedroom.

The next few weeks entailed preparing and delivering four meals a day on trays up the 28 steps of their Sliema house, retrieving the dishes and washing them thoroughly in the kitchen, ordering and taking deliveries of food, cleaning the packages, and constantly disinfecting clothes and bed-linen – all the while wearing a mask and gloves.

Those weeks proved exhausting for her.

“It was also emotional since my daughter was not at home with us and was feeling lonely,” she said.

Meanwhile, the health authorities checked in on her son and husband daily apart from making sure she was staying indoors and observing her own mandatory quarantine.

The family was finally reunited last Wednesday when the authorities declared they were all clear of the virus.

“It felt good to be back together, but the situation is still not over. We’re still not meeting people or going out much.

“And we still have to endure the construction noise.

“I can’t understand how they are being allowed to work like this, all day. This is breaching the public peace,” she said.

Some weeks ago several local councils called for restricted times for construction and excavation works while a group of environmental NGOs called for a suspension in residential areas.

However, in return for restricting works in residential areas during the outbreak, the Malta Developers’ Association called for financial assistance for fines incurred over delays and salary compensation for idle workers, as well as lower interest rates on bank loans.

The prime minister is on record as saying that stopping construction would have disastrous economic repercussions for the country.