Ardern said the lockdown was "broadly" running smoothly so far, having only being announced on Monday. The Government's coronavirus alert level 4 came into effect at 11.59pm yesterday and will be in place for at least four weeks.
A spot of gardening, an early morning run or just a whole lot of nothing were on the agenda for Kiwis today, on the first day of the Covid 19 lockdown.
People around the country are settling in to the first day of the four-week quarantine; in what is a historic move made to help save lives during the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.
It was business as usual for those considered to be working in an essential service workplace - from food suppliers, supermarket staff, some office workers now set up to work from home and of course doctors, nurses and other medical staff.
For others, however, it was a day to relax - going for an early morning walk or run, getting out in the garden, switching into Netflix or just sleeping in.
Good Morning from #lockdownnz central 👍 Morning walk and inspecting plants. 1 or 2 in the mouth along the way for added measure 🤦🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/KdGfnjmJgU
TV sports reporter and personality James McOnie posted a video admitting that all the treat-worthy foods he had bought for the lockdown had gone by lunchtime.
Michael Forbes was just happy to find that the sky had not fallen when he woke up, he said, writing on Twitter: "What a relief."
Others posted eerily quiet and empty streets of downtown Auckland - usually a bustling buzz of activity on any given day of the week.
On a solitary walk around Auckland’s CBD this morning, I saw very few people, no police, a number of homeless and rough sleepers, some building site security guards and many empty buses #NewZealandlockdownpic.twitter.com/AYxqclVIGb
