Jacinda Ardern's 'spaced out' comments go viral online

In her announcement that New Zealand will move to alert level 2 on Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stressed the need for Kiwis to maintain social distance.

In her comments about what will change when we enter level 2, she explained that people no longer need to stay within their bubbles and can meet up with others in public places.

However, she said, everyone must be "spaced out".

As soon as Ardern said those words, New Zealanders took to social media with jokes about her statement.

Social media users shared the clip with Ardern's quote and added commentary with how they interpreted it.

New Zealand will move to alert level 2 at 11.59pm on Wednesday - but a staggered move means not all businesses will immediately be back up and running come Thursday.

The country had no new new cases of Covid-19 today.