Hide and Seek

Tritons Fountain in Valletta is the most famous attraction in Malta. Every day this place used to be filled with tourists and locals.

I have been under self-isolation for more than one month. The only way of feeding my brain with the outside world was through social media or small outings to entertain myself. I don't even know how to define the start line of this chaos that is happening right now. It's more or less like the game of my childhood, hide and seek. If you know how to hide from COVID you will win the game, if not you will step out of the safe zone.

During this time I was just watching what is happening around me. Malta is a small island located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, so a small bubble of a wave. That's why I ignored the rumors and planned for the Easter holiday to go back home to Romania.

People have stopped using public transportation since a bus driver tested positive for COVID-19. 

Signs of the Coronavirus are everywhere. 

I remember when the first person got infected. I finished work, I got on the bus and I had a shock to see people wearing cold faces and a white mask that made it more obvious. They held small bottles of sanitizer and were checking every breath around them. One week later the beautiful streets of Malta full of tourists, music and open doors that invite you to release stress, became a ghost town. The lines of buses full of people now started to have rules: no more passengers standing, no more touching or visible smiles. 

After only one month, people are different. The fear and the restrictions makes everyone more conservative, more suspicious. They forget about the real struggle to stay safe and be empathetic with one another. I never made it home for Easter.

Discarded gloves like this one litter the streets these days.

A solitary figure looks out over the harbor.

Republic Street is the main street of Valletta and one of the most crowded places in Malta. Now all the stores are closed and the street is empty.