NZ doesn't look like it has "ruled out lockdowns", considering your current "restrictions" (politically rebranded lockdowns, because lockdowns are extremely unpopular) are far more strict than most US states have ever had. [1]

It includes insane requirements like requiring face masks in certain outdoor areas.

Forcing children to wear masks in schools at 96% vaccinated sounds insane when vaccinations were pitched as a way to end lockdowns permanently. Did your government just bait and switch the population by keeping "restrictions" after a huge majority of the population got vaccinated? Sure seems like it.

[1] https://covid19.govt.nz/traffic-lights/life-at-red/