Before moving to Malta, Eva Kornelia Kover, of Hungarian origin, spent 30 years living between the UK and Germany, where her husband was based and ran his business.

Having lived here for the past 35 years, she considers Malta to be her home and has only words of praise for CareMalta’s management, who were the first to move a team of workers into elderly homes to ensure residents were cared for and safe throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Senior citizens are especially vulnerable to complications resulting from COVID-19 infection and have been ordered to stay indoors where possible. Visits to care homes have also been halted, to protect residents from the risk of infection.

Eva has made many Maltese friends over the years. Before the pandemic struck, they often picked her up by car and took her out. Now that she must stay indoors, she cannot help but feel lucky to be safe.

“I’m so glad that I’m here,” says Eva, who has been a resident at Casa San Paolo for the past year-and-a-half.

“I don’t really miss going out. My only consolation is that I am safe. If I was still living in the UK or Germany, I would surely have died by now. It’s wonderful how, despite the difficult circumstances, the company managed to lock down its homes in such a short time, saving hundreds of lives. They couldn’t have done it in a better way,” says Eva, who has a 53-year-old son living in Germany.

“The company took the decision in the nick of time, before the virus started to spread. Just look at the high number of vulnerable people who have died in elderly homes in the UK and Germany. You cannot get anything like this in Germany and elderly homes there are nothing like Casa San Paolo. Everything is really organised and safe here.

“Such a project couldn’t have been easy. But everybody is happy here. The staff are lovely and take good care of us,” says Eva, who spends most of the day on her laptop, either catching up with friends in the UK and Malta, or cooking with her son, who occasionally finds one of her old recipes and calls her to help him try it out.

“At the moment my son cannot visit me, but I speak to him every day. Many years ago, especially when he left for Germany, I missed him so much. Now, it’s different. Even though we are far away from each other, we are close. Technology has turned the world into a smaller place.

“The carers and staff here are doing a wonderful job with all the elderly who are missing their families by keeping them in touch via Skype calls. They really think of everything and everyone. Up until a few years ago, I had never thought of moving to an elderly home. But I’m glad I did.”

Eva says being a resident at Casa San Paolo is fantastic.

“There’s always someone around you. I ring the bell and someone comes to help me get dressed or makes me a cup of coffee. We have everything here, 24 hours a day.

“I just pray that the homes don’t reopen too soon. I think we should remain locked up until the pandemic is really over. It isn’t yet time to go out.”