HAVELOCK NORTH, New Zealand -- After 33 days without swimming or surfing, their favorite "flat white" coffees or fish and chips, New Zealanders emerged from strict lockdown Tuesday, when businesses were allowed to reopen if they could operate in a contactless way.
But socializing remains limited, as this country of five million people tries to capitalize on its scorched-earth approach to fighting the coronavirus.
"We are not out of the woods," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said as the country ticked down a notch to Level 3 restrictions. "It's a recovery room of sorts, to assess if the incredible work that New Zealanders have done at Level 4 to break the virus's chain of transmission and prevent further community outbreak has worked."
For almost five weeks, New Zealanders have been required to stay at home unless going to essential jobs or to the grocery store. They could exercise, but only near their homes. It was a strategy that Ardern called "go hard, go early."
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The measures, introduced when the country had 102 coronavirus cases, have worked. New cases have been in the single digits for 11 days, with only three reported Tuesday, and nearly all of them in known clusters.
Almost 83% of the 1,472 people infected have now recovered, while 19 people have died, two in their 60s and the rest older. The toll is so small that Ardern has received a phone call with each loss of life.
Before the lockdown, New Zealand appeared to be on a similar trajectory to Italy, said John McDermott, executive director at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, who has been modeling the virus's transmission.
"I think New Zealand has done remarkably well," he said. "There's some frustration with this tail -- this is a terrible disease to control -- but we've got it down to a level where it will be easier to track and trace."
Under the slightly easier conditions, New Zealanders are allowed to return to pastimes that allow physical distance, like fishing and golf. But the country's beloved rugby is still off-limits.
Businesses were able to reopen Tuesday if they could maintain distance between workers and operate without physical contact with customers. From cafes to excavator rentals, firms were taking online orders and putting the goods out for customers to collect.
It appeared that Kiwis had missed fast food the most during the lockdown. Before dawn on Tuesday, long lines formed outside McDonald's and KFC.
"My children won't let me go home without it. Plain and simply, they are just begging for cheeseburgers," said Aaron Pace, who runs a carpet-cleaning company, as he waited in the drive-through at "Macca's," as it's called here. The line was so long at the branch in this small town that police were on the scene to manage the traffic.
"I'm going to buy way more than anyone can eat, so then in three or four hours' time, there's still one there they can chuck in the microwave," Pace said, before heading to the liquor store to collect his online order.
The prime minister's household was among those hankering for takeout. "NZ anticipating takeaways starting again like..." her partner, fishing show host Clarke Gayford, tweeted, with a video of a jaguar emerging from a stream with a flailing alligator between its jaws.
Like other countries, New Zealand has tried to balance protecting public health with minimizing the economic impact. The short, sharp pain approach was widely supported.
With the move to Level 3, one million people are at work and about 75% of the economy is operating again, Ardern said Tuesday.
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But the vital tourism sector remains closed -- as are the borders -- and the unemployment rate is expected to jump. And the specter of a second wave of infections, already seen in places such as Singapore, looms ominously.
A Section on 04/29/2020