Chile had a rocky start to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the central government involved in a number of scandals. The Health Minister Jaime Mañalich resigned after it was revealed his department was counting coronavirus deaths among the country’s “cured” cases, saying that deceased people were no longer contagious. And in December, President Sebastián Pinera received a fine for breaching quarantine rules, when he took a mask-less stroll on the beach and posed for selfies with bystanders.
But one year on from the country’s first case, Chile has some reason to celebrate its response to the health crisis. At the time...