With life having returned to normal, children back in schools, workplaces repopulated and the nightlife returning to our villages, the desire to move on from the pandemic is irresistible to all.

As the ambers of society are reignited, it may seem barbaric to construct a monument for something which has brought so much devastation to the lives of so many innocent people, but coming together to remember all that was lost and mourn together in one place is an essential part of our community rebuilding itself.

Across Malta, many people were left alone throughout their mourning period. How many times were we informed from the newspapers and online journals about another patient succumbing to Covid-19?

How many people were buried alone or only with a select few family members present? How many people couldn’t attend their loved ones’ funeral during the early stages of the pandemic? How many people could not see their loved ones as they lay face down on a hospital bed ventilated while clinging on to life?

These people need to mourn, they need to heal. One has to remember that behind every notch added to the list of casualties during the pandemic, there was a family, a mother, a father, wife, son, husband and much more.

Although some of the people who died due to the virus were indeed mentioned by their names, many others were not. Since the beginning of the pandemic 740 people died, with the absolute majority not being named.

These unmentioned people are not just numbers, they are not just statistics.

Another point of consideration for the monument are the people who were indirectly affected by the pandemic. The first thing which comes to mind are the frontliners who at the time of need risked their lives to keep the health services in Malta going, many a time at a cost to their mental health and families.

There are also individuals who lost years of education, seeing loved ones and the most important thing, risked their mental health. For a country like Malta where the culture of meeting with people, going out and so on is part of our DNA, not being able to go out for such a prolonged period of time has cost them their livelihood.

At the end of the day Malta needs a space for all to be able to go to a place and mourn their pains of the pandemic, we cannot do this alone … battling the demons of this pandemic would take a monumental effort.

Maybe the monument is too soon to consider? Maybe, this opinion is just one of the over 500,000 people who live in Malta, but it is a necessity. There are many things to consider. Whose stories will this monument tell? What will it look like? Where will it be located?

The monument for sure has to be somber - we have to acknowledge our losses due to the pandemic and not doing so will have worse consequences than the pandemic itself. One thing is for sure, the monument must depict the human sacrifices made, maybe even include their names?