Small rural towns are being warned not to get complacent about COVID-19 as Te Kuiti in the King Country has 58 active cases and on Thursday recorded 24 new infections - which was even more than Auckland.
Two gatherings before Christmas spawned a number of cases in the town and locals are concerned.
"About 70 people presented, 32 people at that gathering tested positive, and four of those people are currently in hospital. So the key message for us is just to ensure that we're following guidelines," says Keith Ikin, Maniapoto Māori Trust Board chairperson.
But testing sites were virtually empty on Friday, with the holiday period blamed for putting people off coming in.
Vaccination rates make better reading, with local Māori approaching that 90 percent second dose target.
"We are one of the probably leading districts in rural New Zealand in terms of vaccinations. First doses, we're at 95 percent. With second doses for Māori are at 80 percent, the general population is 90 percent. So it's fantastic," says Waitomo district mayor John Robertson.
Forty-five percent of the almost 5000 there are Māori. Community leaders say they face similar challenges to whānau living in south Auckland and worry it could lead to more cases.
"The combination of those two things - a home environment and multiple generations, large families in small homes, and then a small group of employers that employ a large number of the working population - that combination makes it quite challenging," Ikin says.
The community is working with iwi to help curb the spread and has a simple New Year's message: test, test, test.
