As New Zealand moved into alert level 3 on Tuesday, Kiwis have been racing to enjoy their new luxuries such as fishing, biking and hiking.
But many others have decided to spend their days stuck in traffic outside fast food outlets around the country as takeaways resume for the first time in over a month.
Social media users in Taupō have shared pictures online of the massive queues stretching out the driveway and down the road from the local McDonald's as Kiwis queue to get their BigMacs.
Commenters have called the lines "crazy" saying people must be going "mad" to wait in the line.
"OMG! Seriously, I promised this as a reward to the kids for having lockdown. Wouldn't want to work at Maccas right now," one person wrote.
Another outlet experiencing massive queues is the Gisbourne store which Royster Productions captured on drone footage.
McDonald's has reopened 137 of its 170 outlets on Tuesday as the alert level decreased to 3, with a spokesperson saying it has been a "very busy day so far".
"Like many restaurants around the country, Eileen Byrne and the McDonald’s Taupo team had customers waiting in Drive-Thru, and there has been a steady flow of customers, well above what we’d expect on a normal Tuesday," the spokesperson says.
"We’ve been planning since the level 4 lockdown on reopening, and since last week when level 3 timing was confirmed the franchisees, restaurant staff, our suppliers and distribution partner have been working hard to get the restaurants open.
"Under alert level 3 we operate Drive-Thru and McDelivery, and we’ve introduced a number of new procedures in line with alert level 3 guidance, to ensure the safety of customers and staff. As part of restaurant risk assessments many restaurants have traffic control plans in place."
But as the masses get their fast food fix, other food businesses are urging Kiwis to support local.
There has also been backlash against American delivery service app UberEats which will continue to take a 30-35 percent commission of all deliveries which is taking a large portion of the price of each meal away from the food business.
Business owners previously told Newshub they are already struggling to adhere to the new hygiene social distancing and contactless delivery standards and on top of that UberEats commission is "unsustainable".
During Wednesday's COVID-19 announcement Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealanders should be supporting local businesses through the pandemic by picking up food orders.
"What I would encourage consumers - all New Zealanders - who may be looking forward next week to accessing takeaway food, is just to look at your favourite local eatery and see whether they offer delivery directly themselves," she says.
"That will often be then at a lesser cost to them as a business and just see whether they've got contact list options as well.
"That's probably the best way we can see those businesses not incurring the costs of being under a surcharge that's quite hefty."
