There definitely is a benefit to being an island (technically, I guess Australia is a continent, but it does benefit from no land borders). I think too, the people of New Zealand are very solidary, which comes from them being a small island quite isolated from the world. I have read, and it may be true, that the culture of rugby, which focuses on the team rather than the individual, helped in both countries. Culturally, there may be more of a willingness to do what is for the good of the country as a whole.

Here the government closed the borders 15 days after the first case was detected. By that time, community spread was already here and cases rose to the point they declared lockdowns. When we had low rates of 900-1,200 new cases a day was after lockdowns ended and with the borders still closed. We are almost like an island, set between the ocean, the world's driest desert and the Andes mountains. But, then there was the eclipse, so they decided to open us up to tourists in early December, giving them rights to travel while clamping back down on the little freedom that citizens/residents in many areas had been given. Well, then, Christmas and New Years hit, which caused more cases. 4,000 cases a day and they freaked out with new lockdowns and semi-lockdowns. I don't know, they say it's required because it's the same number of cases a day as June, but they are testing 4 times more people. Per capita it is way better than the US or UK still.

The last 2 days, we are back under 3,000 new cases. They moved a few high profile municipalities in the capital to phase 3, which is a more open phase. We are stuck in 2. I guess having a mayor who is head of the rural mayors' association doesn't carry much clout with he health minister haha! Despite that, there is no way I would want to live in Santiago again.

I guess it's another weekend of my husband and me staring at each others' faces. Basically, we end up doing some sort of project around the house then watching sports with a few beers. I guess this weekend will be fixing the curtain that is sort of crooked and might fall down. Exciting stuff. If I get up early enough I will be allowed to walk the dogs.