New Zealanders queued for burgers, fries and coffee takeaway on Tuesday after they were freed from a month-long lockdown, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has credited with eliminating domestic transmission of the coronavirus.
Around 400,000 people returned to work after Ardern shifted the country’s alert level down a notch, loosening some of the tough movement restrictions that shut down businesses for weeks. “It’s hard to explain how good this tastes,” Christopher Bishop, a lawmaker, said on Twitter after posting a picture with a takeaway coffee cup.
Long queues of cars snaked up to McDonald’s Corp outlets in Auckland and Wellington from the early hours as people sought a fast food fix. “We got quarter pounders, Big Macs, drinks … I’ve