While the Easter bunny is finding a safe, lockdown-compliant way to deliver chocolate treats this long weekend, many traditional celebrations are having to be shelved.
easter eaggs Photo: 123RF
Church services have been cancelled because of the alert level 4 restrictions, while hot cross buns are in hot demand from bakers.
Out the back at Arobake in Wellington, baker Max Fuhrer is rushed off his feet making hot cross buns.
He said they had to stop taking orders because it has been so busy.
"We have a wholesale business to cafes and restaurants that's all disappeared but we're still doing two shifts of bread at night and then pastry cooks in the early hours of the morning - and they've turned into packers really," he said.
He said they had about 400 online orders in 15 minutes this week and could not keep up with demand for baking and other goods as well.
"They're buying lots of flour - we're delivering over 400 - 500 kgs of flour a day - and we're selling lots of eggs and milk and bread," he said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has some treats up her sleeve - she's let the Easter bunny hop around the country and deliver eggs.
However, she's reminded faith groups to stick to their bubbles.
"Many places of worship are catering for communities using Zoom, YouTube, Facebook and even the House Party app ... please do stay home and save lives," she said.
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre
Father John O'Connor from the Catholic Church's national office said they were encouraging families to pray in their bubbles at home.
"Many places have been very creative and have organised by Zoom and other media ways of coming together virtually," he said.
The Jewish community is celebrating its passover holiday.
Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation board chair Matthew Smith said they were also adjusting to the new way of life - in a virtual setting.
He said he was expecting dozens of people to join in.
"If I can go by the numbers of attendees joining our virtual services we conduct I would expect to have at least 40 or 50 people joining - their families joining the online seder," he said.
Retail supermarket chain Countdown said it was getting more chocolate bunnies and eggs in because of increased demand over the lockdown.
It said chocolate lovers munched their way through 530 tonnes of Easter confectionary last year and it sold 13 million hot cross buns.
