New Zealand's initial public health response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was characterised by risk-informed early border closures, a relatively rapid implementation of national lockdown including severe movement restrictions, healthcare reprioritisation, enhancements in contact tracing, isolation and testing capacities. The initial response was facilitated with effective community engagement. This led to a low relative burden of COVID-19 in New Zealand, including only 22 deaths, and limited inequitable COVID-19 outcomes during the first wave of community transmission of disease. New Zealand's initial goal of disease elimination was reached by May 2020; however, the broader costs of this approach including socio-economic impacts, and longer-term sustainability, remain to be fully discerned.