The weekend before the country went into lockdown, a group of mates in Queenstown got together at a friend's house for some quiet drinks.
By the next weekend, two of the young men would be sick and both would go on to test positive for Covid-19.
One of them, a man in his 20s, is now in self-isolation after about a week of being ill.
"The last eight days he has been sick," his mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Herald.
"It was one day and one thing - fever, chills, head cold, vomiting."
It is not known exactly how or when her son became infected.
"We don't know who had it first."
She said it was not until her son kept reporting that he was still sick that she told him he might need to be tested for coronavirus.
"I said to him: 'I think you really need to ring [Healthline] now and insist that you need a test.
"He got his result really quickly. He went to get the test done at 2.30pm the day before yesterday and they rang him yesterday with the results."
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Her son, who lives in a flat with five others, has been self-isolating in a unit next door since he fell sick.
To her shock, none of his flatmates were required to be tested as no one had shown any flu-like symptoms, she said.
"I was just surprised [that's the advice] when he's been living with them all this time and especially when they keep saying: 'Test, test, test'.
"I know if that was my kid and someone else had tested positive, I'd be wanting a test done."
She says her son is doing "great" today and looks to be on way to recovery.
"I must say when he called me to say he'd tested positive, I got emotional.
"But he's young and fit and he's doing great now."
Queenstown is already dealing with a cluster of confirmed Covid-19 cases connected to the World Hereford Conference held in the city between March 9 and 13.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
Members were seen performing a haka as pallbearers carried his coffin into the clubhouse.