Auckland microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles cried with relief when the Government announced lockdown measures for New Zealand as the coronavirus wreacked havoc around the world.
She was upset the day prior, fearing for her family both here and overseas and explained in an interview with Stuff the relief she felt when the Level 4 lockdown was announced.
Dr Wiles is in lockdown with her husband and 13-year-old daughter, said.
Dr Wiles has regularly appeared on television, radio, digital and print media during the lockdown giving expert advise. But today she gave rare insight into how the pandemic has impacted her.
She talked about first hearing about Covid-19, her first media interview, and how it all grew from there.
Dr Wiles said she gave her first interview on the issue with TVNZ 1's Breakfast John Campbell in January when the coronavirus hadn't yet been officially named Covid-19.
"Two weeks later it was like 'woah, okay, so this is escalating'," she explained to Stuff.
It was in early February when she says she put her main laboratory job aside to focus on the pandemic full time and keep up with requests from the media.
Dr Wiles said it wasn't her "first rodeo" though, having covered the Zika virus and Ebola outbreak.
"Every couple of year's there's been something where it's been my job to say 'this is what we know, this is what we don't know, this is what's happening'.
"We've never experienced like this," she said, adding "I feel like I've been training for this for my entire life."
However, she said "never in a million years did I think I would actually be living through this, I mean, it's just been the most surreal experience for all of us."
Like most people, Dr Wiles said she was also scared for her family, especially knowing how the virus will play out if people don't follow the rules.
"My parents live in the UK, my mum is someone who will be very vulnerable to infection and it's been very upsetting watching how things developed there while trying to remain calm and collected and communicate to people.
"There was one day where I spoke to them in the morning and I just burst into tears and I had journalists call me and I was just like 'I actually can't speak to anyone today, I'm so upset and worried for my family'," she said.
"I think people forget that we're people too."
Dr Wiles went on to say she was "relieved" when New Zealand's Level 4 lockdown was announced.
"When the Prime Minister announced that we were going to Level 4 I cried because I was so relieved because I knew that that was the thing we had to do in order to stop the spread of the virus here."
Dr Wiles says she and her family were privileged enough to have space to retreat to during the lockdown, saying they've been playing boardgames and surfing the internet to keep occupied.
"The important thing for me is we do everything to minimise being part of a transmission chain and spreading this virus on to anybody else so we'll continue to do our jobs the best we can do and we will be staying away from others until it's safe for us not to."
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