When you look at the map, one thing stands out about Ireland's two Covid-19 frontrunners – they're geographical opposites.
Dingle Peninsula, on Ireland's west coast, and Rosslare in the east are the areas in Ireland faring best when it comes to battling the spread of coronavirus.
Stick a ruler between the two electoral zones and you'll see the symmetry.
Both are located on the tip of Ireland, meaning you're unlikely to pass through on the way anywhere else.
If you're in Dingle or Rosslare, say locals, you're there for a reason – and with travel restrictions in place, this reality has allowed the two coastal towns to wrestle case numbers down close to zero.
Both have recorded incidence rates of fewer than five cases per 100,000 population over the last two weeks.
"There's no passing through," says Councillor Breandan Fitzgerald of his local area of Dingle.
Jim Moore, a Councillor in Rosslare, offers a similar assessment: "It's that rural aspect that's probably had quite an influence on how things have developed."
In recent weeks, Ireland has started to turn the tide against Covid-19, with daily case numbers down from over 1,200 a month ago to just 226 yesterday.
Heightened restrictions have forced people all around the country to stay home – but, as Cllr Fitzgerald points out, some places are better at adhering to the rules than others.
"People have been very good sticking with the guidelines," he says. "Most people just don't want to mess around with Covid-19."
Seamus Fitzgerald, another Dingle Councillor, says people have "abided by the guidelines in the strictest sense possible."
Seamus is a member of Dingle's hillwalking club – but he says they haven't been out walking since the rules came into effect.
"Walking is one thing that you would think you could relax the rules, but we haven't."
He says people in Dingle "appreciate that the only way you can get back to normal is to adhere to the guidelines," and adds: "People are using their common sense."
In Rosslare, too, common sense is the word of the day. Cllr Moore tells the Irish Mirror that the seaside village – known in normal times for its port, with ferries coming in and taking off – has put in the "hard work" needed to fight Covid-19.
"It's a very generous response to the guidelines that have been issued," he says. "People have taken it very seriously. We've seen it go the other way, and we've seen the alarms being set off."
It's not been easy, in either Rosslare or Dingle, amid the ongoing restrictions.
Cllr Seamus Fitzgerald says the hope for many in Dingle is that Ireland can come down to Level Two, not Three, come December.
"I would hope that the wet pubs would be open," he says, painting a picture of a tourist town that's struggling in a tourism vacuum.
"People are looking for a bit of a break."
Cllr Moore says that in Rosslare, there have been some frank exchanges of views between locals over the behaviour of some at certain times during the pandemic.
"People were very forthright in coming forward and saying: 'This is the wrong way. This is the wrong type of behaviour – this is the wrong response."
That honesty, he says, created by the sense of community in the area, has helped people "come around to see that if we don't adhere to these guidelines, there's a consequence for it. And nobody wants to be in that position."
So while no psychologist will tell you that fear is a healthy motivator, in a pandemic, it's often the most effective tool of all.
Oh, and living in an area off the beaten track helps too.
