Germany is probably the least comparable country here. It's smack dab in the center of Europe, has a population density of an entirely different magnitude, and

Germany is probably the least comparable country here. It's smack dab in the center of Europe, has a population density of an entirely different magnitude, and is - most importantly - surrounded by some countries that do not take Covid seriously for whatever reason, and it can not easily close the border, which also doesn't physically exists anymore, because it is a huge political thing on multiple levels from local to EU. Germany is more locked-down internally (like Australia and NZ) than it is on its outside borders. Is it a mess? Yes. Should it be done better? Yes. But honestly, if Germany was an Island, it would be doing just as good as Australia and NZ. It locked down internal travel several times, had one of the best contact tracing when it was still possible, and generally just got outplayed by new strains swamping through land borders that neither NZ nor Australia even have.