Actually, the reason why Jacinda Ardern was tearful was because Sir Michael Cullen died. She choked up when asked about him, but she didn't get tearful at any other time. Sir Michael Cullen was a long-serving Labour minister (Ardern also belongs to the left-wing Labour Party, which is more or less the equivalent of the Democrats in the US). He was in our Parliament from 1981 to 2009 and from 2002-2008, he was Deputy Prime Minister to Helen Clark and also her Finance Minister. Over the last year or so of his life, he was an advocate for euthanasia (which sadly two-thirds of the country voted to legalise in last year's election - it comes into law in early November). Cullen had lung cancer, and this was what claimed his life. I'm kind of glad that he died before the euthanasia law came into effect. He likely would have taken advantage of it, which would have been great publicity for the pro-death campaigners.
Ardern has been in Parliament for a little while herself now. She would have known Cullen and had a bit to do with him. So her reaction was quite normal for someone grieving a loss. I really don't think there was anything more to it than that. As for criminal charges, well maybe eventually, but I'd be very surprised if they happened next week. You never know though! Stranger things have happened, especially in this young but very weird decade.
However, this lockdown definitely has a more sinister feel to it than the last nationwide one. The last Level 4 lockdown in March/April/May 2020 had a bit of a novelty factor. There was a sense of solidarity, a collective determination to beat the virus. The police were pretty chilled out for the most part. Nobody bothered with masks. The vaccines hadn't come along yet. Now however, there is a mask mandate, orders not to talk to people (ostensibly to "stop the spread" of Delta), endless nagging to take the vaccine, and even the police are getting more serious this time. When Ardern announced the lockdown a few days ago, she called the Delta variant a "game changer", which sounded a bit coded to me. We may, in a manner of speaking, start to see her mask drop a bit. Again though, I don't think there was anything more to her tears today than sadness over Sir Michael Cullen's passing.