Waitomo mayor John Robertson said there were 61 active cases yesterday in the district and he expected more cases to be announced today as it spread into the rural area.
There were also "hundreds" of people isolating at home.
"It's a real struggle, all this, for us in a small community, a rural community. This is getting hard and we know when New Zealand opens up, the modelling suggests - again this is just verbal advice I get - that we will get surges."
Robertson's rough calculations showed 1 in 100 people in Te Kuiti had Covid compared to about 1 in 300 people in Auckland.
Maniapoto Maori Trust Board, the nearby councils and service providers are now working together to develop a local readiness plan focusing on better communication with those isolating at home.
Robertson said the current information given to families was "spotty" and they wanted to have a local information hub providing information in case numbers to rise.
The district's vaccination rates were "pretty good" for rural New Zealand, with 93 per cent of the eligible population having had their first dose and 83 per cent having had both doses, he said.
Waitomo remains in the orange traffic light despite cases rising dramatically in the past two weeks.
Piopio College principal Johan Van den Venter, in a letter posted to the school's Facebook page, said the school reverting to online learning until at least Thursday was a precautionary measure to keep students, the community and staff safe.
Both schools would be reviewing the approaches on Wednesday.
NCEA exams will continue as they are managed by NZQA onsite at affects a different group of students.
Covid testing has been set up in Te Kuiti and in Piopio.
