Like many others, border closures meant that I was separated from loved ones. In my case, that meant that I was separated from my family in the Netherlands. And while in New Zealand we were able to have our lives pretty much as normal for the last two years, with greater freedoms than in most other countries, I could see how being locked up and stuck in their homes for fear of going out and not being safe took its toll on my parents. And, at the same time, I also feared for the health and wellbeing of my sister, who works in a place where they look after the more vulnerable and the elderly, and where, in fact, many, many died during the COVID outbreaks. It's not only that; when a country gets overwhelmed with COVID, the health services get strained to the point of breaking, and it means that many people can't get their healthcare.