Quebec's Whole Saint-Lawrence Valley Is Now A Red Zone Because Of New Additions

Health Minister Christian Dubé announced on November 9 that Estrie, the region overlapping most of the Eastern Townships, would be entering a COVID-19 red zone on Thursday — which means all of Quebec's Saint-Lawrence Valley is in the red.

The Saint-Lawrence Valley, also called the Saint-Lawrence Lowlands, is "a plain located along the St. Lawrence River between Québec City in the east and Brockville, Ontario in the west," which you'll see on this handy map. 

In early October, when Quebec was adding five regions to the red zone, Dubé said, "It's the whole Saint-Lawrence Valley that turns red, with a few close exceptions."  

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Over the past few days, a significant increase in new cases has been observed in the Estrie region, and a tightening of measures is therefore necessary.

Christian Dubé, Minister of Health and Social Services 

The Eastern Townships was one of the exceptions.

Looking at Quebec's COVID-19 map, you'll see that the province's whole Saint-Lawrence Valley has now been overtaken by red, putting a huge portion of southern Quebec in high alert.

A cluster of red-zones begins at Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and goes southward all the way to Estrie and Montérégie.

Ten out of Quebec's 19 administrative regions — 53% — are fully red and two more regions have red areas within them.