New Zealand's coronavirus lockdown will be managed by a leadership team of some of the country's top officials. That team is Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health, Sarah Stuart-Black, Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, Mike Bush, Commissioner of Police, and Dr Peter Crabtree.
Imagine spending the next four weeks without social media. I know I can't.
As I sat on my couch watching yesterday's historic announcement of a level 4 lockdown in New Zealand, it struck me just how important it is for us to maintain our connections with each other through theinternet.
"I'm waiting for the livestream to start," my mum wrote to me on Facebook messenger.
"I hope you're watching the NZ Herald livestream," I joked.
As I and thousands of other Kiwis watched Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern detail what would happen over the next 48 hours, I was simultaneously firing off messages to friends and family.
"Are you watching the livestream?" I asked one.
"Yeah,****ing scary," she responded.
I know social media has a bad reputation, and that particularly the younger generations are pretty harshly criticised for always being on it, but yesterday social media is what allowed me to be with my loved ones in that scary moment.
And it's what will allow us to be with them for the next month.
I can already see the increase online as people turn to social media more than they otherwise would have for entertainment, connection, and community.
One Facebook friend has started a game of 20 questions on his wall. Another friend is gathering others online so they can all simultaneously work on progressing or achieving the splits while in quarantine.
A dance studio I attend has had to close classes, but is already brainstorming among students how online video classes can be held.
ALERT_STAGES
When yesterday's news caused the phone lines to be overloaded, we turned instead to Facebook voice calling to talk to one another.
Within an hour or two my neighbours had already set up a group chat so we can share ideas to deal with boredom, or just have someone to talk to.
Quite aside from how useful social media is, it also helps us see how everyone else is coping with lockdowns around the world.
Have you seen the Italians playing music together from their balconies? How about the piano and saxophone duet of My Heart Will Go On by a pair of neighbours in Spain?
I think just seeing that sense of community somewhere on the other side of the world makes us feel better.
Victoria University of Wellington programme director for media studies Michael Daubs said his partner is still having a cup of tea and doing the daily quiz with her co-workers for morning tea, but instead they're doing it on a video call.
Elsewhere people are using Zoom or Skype to have after work drinks.
Daubs wouldn't call social media "important" during the lockdown, but agrees it makes everything more convenient.
He's concerned the increased use of the internet over the coming weeks will make it easier for work to "creep" into personal time, which was already an issue to begin with.
As a society, we've never been more connected to each other online than we are right now. We've also never gone through a pandemic and quarantine scenario with this level of connectivity.
Daubs says while this will help with loneliness and restlessness to some degree, it also meant the spread of misinformation would be wider as people took their news straight from Facebook or other social media giants, rather than from trusted sources.
Victoria University of Wellington associate professor Taciano Milfont from the school of psychology says social media is going to be particularly important for those who are self-isolating alone.
I know I for one will be making an effort to pick up the phone a bit more and call my grandparents, for those that really just can't get the grasp of Facetime.
