A woman who returned from visiting China two days ago has put herself in isolation at her home in Auckland saying she doesn't want to take any chances in case she's infected with coronavirus.
Angela Lai was visiting family in China and didn't visit the province most affected by the virus which has produced 31,161 cases in China alone and killed 636 people.
However she says she's not confident that she isn't infected and would rather take precautions to protect herself and others.
"I can feel the panic of people," she told 1 NEWS.
Ms Lai is having groceries delivered and is able to work from home.
"In the daytime I need to work, at night, I think I might binge watch Netflix," she laughs.
The Ministry of Health says around a thousand people a day are still arriving from China and they expect them to isolate themselves at home for two weeks.
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Director General, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says he has confidence New Zealanders will do the right thing.
"Two weeks is along time and I have a huge level of trust that people will do the right thing to contribute to wider community health," he says.
The ministry says if those who've travelled to China are living with someone who hasn't, they shouldn't stand closer than one metre for more than 15 minutes, but it's OK for friends, family or delivery drivers to drop off food.
Employment lawyers 1 NEWS spoke to recommend workers who need to self isolate should ask their bosses about special paid leave, or whether they can work from home.
