Three Tier 2 areas are among the 20 worst coronavirus hotspots in England, latest data has shown.
One area has even risen into the top ten most affected.
Basildon in Essex, which this week dodged being put into the highest tier, now has the eighth highest infection rate in the country.
London boroughs Redbridge and Havering have the 11th and 16th largest rates respectively.
By comparison Stratford-upon-Avon, which is in Tier 3, is 281st out of 315 local authorities.
Local leaders in the Warwickshire town this week launched legal action, saying they should not face the toughest restrictions.
Swale in Kent has the highest infection rate in England, while Medway, Thanet, Gravesham, Maidstone and Dover also feature in the top 10.
Woking, in Surrey, and Ashford, in Kent, have also seen sharp increases in the number of people testing positive for the virus, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives across the UK.
The government is facing a backlash after imposing strict restrictions on huge swathes of the country, Mirror reports.
Three quarters of people in the North East think the area has been put in the wrong tier, and restrictions are too tough.
According to our survey, just 24% of people who responded on ChronicleLive think where they live is in the right tier.
Of those who responded, 72% said they weren’t in the right tier and 4% weren’t sure.
Based on the survey, which received 8,119 responses, 77% said they didn’t agree with the decision to put the North East in Tier 3 when Liverpool and London are in Tier 2.
