Understanding from Whakatane about why it's moving into Red under the traffic light system from Friday.

Most regions will start in Orange, apart from Auckland and places with low vaccination rates, including Northland, Gisborne and parts of Bay of Plenty.

Whakatane Mayor Judy Turner told Kate Hawkesby she isn't surprised because the area's still working on vaccination levels.

She says a large percentage of the population lives in isolated rural communities.

“To getting those services out there has been a challenge, but it is happening. We’ve got a couple of amazing providers who have just gone for broke.”

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