We were told early to "stay the blazes home", wear masks and limit contact. We did that.

Excellent contact tracing and quick responses to problems kept us from a runaway situation. Things closed, rules changed, we were told to follow PH advice. We did that. https://twitter.com/DrMaximVoronov/status/1357115676062867458

We're still the worst province for "vaccine rollout" because it's taken time to organize a fair, efficient and effective plan. But the government kept us informed, continued to give advice and the excellent local reporting by @Tim_Bousquet acted as a check.

Meanwhile, while waiting for the vaccine program to begin, which is clearly outlined and easily found, our premier has not felt compelled to act like a four month old child with a full diaper and erode public compliance by endlessly trying to blame others.

Part of the reason we are doing well is obviously our small size, low population, natural borders, etc but to discount good leadership, virtually no politicking, a notable lack of bullshit in our local media and a disinterest in national media is wrong.

We did well because we were more interested in doing well and keeping people alive than in trying to open an economy not ready to be opened and blaming others.

Competent leadership, non toxic media, patience and decency.

YMMV

#NovaScotia

Also notable: we spent the funds the federal government sent us, we used the rapid tests they gave us, we didn't shame people for taking subsidies and we seemed to understand that businesses are not more important than people and an economy can recover while dead people can't.

But I'm mostly struck by how we accepted the community responsibility Covid forced upon us and acted for the common good more often than not.

There are many reasons for this that aren't simple to explain and have to do with our poorness and our history.

I think it also helped that when the outbreak happened in the LTC, where 53 of our 64 deaths occurred, there was a public outcry and a speedy-ish response by the government.

Jury is still out on how we are overall with LTC, but we didn't let an obvious vector fester.

We have Canada's highest proportion of seniors and I suspect that's a factor. Higher vulnerability plus the wisdom and patience of age may have helped not only with their compliance but their example.