All of Eastern Townships becoming a red zone as of Thursday

With a sharp rise in cases in the area, Quebec's health ministry has announced the Estrie region will become a red zone as ofThursday midnight.

The region recorded 355 new positive cases of COVID-19 between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7.

"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," said Health Minister Christian Dub.

The Eastern Townships is a larger tourism area that encompasses the Estrie administrative region. Other administrative regions the Eastern Townships overlap with, the Chaudire-Appalaches and Montrgieregions, are currently in red as well.

People in Estrie will have to follow tougher health guidelines that come with the public health "red zone" designation, including not gathering with people they don't live with unless they live alone, in which case they can have one visitor at a time.

Restaurant dining rooms and fitness centres will also have to close.