Residents were left surprised by high Covid rates in the area where there is "nobody around".
It comes after Maggie Throup, the Conservative MP for Erewash, told residents that coronavirus infection rates remain 'stubbornly high' in her borough.
Hallam Fields and Greenwood Avenue in Ilkeston has a rate of 208.2 cases per 100,000 people as of March 6.
The area also had seventeen cases confirmed in the space of seven days. Ilkeston Town has a rate of 143.4, compared with areas nearby like Toton which has a rate of 60.5 and Stapleford with 86.1.
Sandra Sheppard, who lives in Stapleford but walks dogs for a friend in Hallam Fields, said: "There's literally nobody around here.
"I've got my mask just in case but I'm wondering where everyone is to be honest.
"I think the rates are going up generally because a lot of the students have started coming back.
"I work with students as a kitchen supervisor at the University of Nottingham and the first thing they want to do is hug you.
"While universities are still open, we'll still have the virus."
Mum Philippa Jacovou said: "It is busy in terms of people outside exercising but that's the only thing we do at the minute.
"A lot of us are working from home too. All my neighbours are staying inside.
"My only complaint is places like Morrison's are a free for all, people come far too close and don't wear masks."
She added that as a new mum, it has been hard not seeing family for over a year.
She said: "People are getting fed up now.
"If Boris imposed another lockdown people wouldn’t stick to it, that’s the general consensus of people I speak to.
"People are missing family. My partner's dad has only met our son once in the garden when he was a few weeks old.
"It’s been really hard and I think people will take more risks now."
Jack Anderson, 31, added: "I only moved here just before Christmas to the new estate.
"I haven’t seen people mixing around here. I think the shops have been fine, people tend to wear masks.
"I’m on the fence about lockdown easing as I’d rather extended it than come back into it at another point.
"Then again, people's mental health has been impacted a lot this past year."
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Boris seems to be taking his time to come out of lockdown and I don’t know what else you can do really.
"I just keep my head down, to be honest. I've had my first jab and I've got my second soon.
"The vaccine will be s the saviour of it all, but you’ll still get people believing disinformation more than the experts."
Maggie Throup MP said: “Having monitored Covid infection rates closely over the course of the pandemic, it is clear that cases of Covid remain stubbornly high in many parts of Erewash and are not reducing at the rate we would expect.
“Whilst this trend cannot be attributed to one single cause, having investigated the situation with senior officials from both national and local Government, including Derbyshire’s Director of Public Health, it appears that it can, in part, be explained by an increase in household mixing resulting in community spread."
