Josette Zammit, a resident in a Mosta care home for the elderly, can’t wait for the day she can hug her “little sister”, 73-year-old Georgette, again.

The sisters have not been able to meet, at a time when they needed each other most. Over the past nine months, their brother Tony and Josette’s husband Carmelo, both died.

“The coronavirus really changed a lot of things for us. It has been very, very bad. In these nine months, I lost my husband. My brother, three cousins and another friend died also. None died of the virus. But it was really cruel because I couldn’t go and see them,” says Josette.

The 77-year-old spoke to Times of Malta via Skype from her room at Casa Arkati, where she spends her days. She is one of the 4,400 people living in 37 elderly homes in Malta who have been confined to their rooms for weeks on end under restrictive measures to control the spread of the virus.

Now that the vaccine has started being rolled out in homes, like many others in her situation, Josette can’t wait for the day she can safely step back into the light.

But it is not clear how long it will take for elderly people in homes to be let out of their rooms, as a Health Ministry spokesperson said: “At the moment, all mitigation measures in elderly homes will be kept in place.”

They started the inoculation in homes earlier last month. Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci has said the government is on track to vaccinate all elderly residents by the end of February. 

“I know that this is all being done to protect us and we need to be patient. Once this is over, I will get out of here: as soon as I wake up, I will shower and go out like I used to do. I will hug my sister, as I really miss her. Usually she comes for me and we’d go out with her car,” says Josette.

These days, Josette speaks daily to her sister, Georgette Farrugia Sacco, on her tablet. They last time they saw each other face-to-face was in August and then in Christmas, Josette waved at her from the balcony of her room.

Josette Zammit with her late husband Carmelo on their wedding day.

Up until nine months ago, Josette shared that room with her husband. The couple moved into Casa Arkati four years ago because Josette had to undergo a slipped-disc operation and her husband had heart problems.

Once this is over, I will get out of here... I will hug my sister

Before that, they had lived in their marital home in Balzan for 45 years. “My husband loved to travel. We went somewhere every year. We visited Dubai, Italy, France, Switzerland, you name it. When my husband got tired, we’d go for weekend breaks to Gozo,” she says, adding that she had a special bond with Gozo as she was born there during the war.

The couple were happy at Casa Arkati where Josette was very involved in activities. “In the morning, I’d wake up and walk to the Mosta church or to the shops. My husband would join when he was well,” she recalls.

But then, in March, everything changed as the virus hit and a complete lockdown was imposed in the homes. For 10 weeks, they lived with carers and there were activities organised.

Meanwhile, in April, her 83-year-old husband became unwell and was taken to hospital, where he died from cardiac failure.

“It was painful. I couldn’t go see him in hospital dying,” she says, in tears. “He was in hospital for four days and a nurse told me I could go and see him for an hour. My friend took me to hospital and I saw him. He had high fever and his heart was not so good.

“When he saw me, he tried to get up from bed and told me to fetch his shoes so he could come home. Those were his last words.

“But then I had to go into quarantine because I had gone to see him. After two days, they telephoned to tell me he had died.

“They gave me permission to go to the funeral and I went to hospital to see him for the last time, and then we went to the cemetery. It was really hard. He was a very nice man. He loved me.”

Things have been difficult since then as, after the full lockdown was lifted, homes then went into partial lockdown and residents are now confined to their rooms. Josette thanks the staff at Casa Arkati for their support.

“Now I spend my day knitting and watching television. I speak to other residents on the telephone. We must be patient. Now there is the vaccine,” she says.