Two weeks before Christmas, the MRCs of Pays-d’en-Haut and Laurentides, which include the cities of Saint-Sauveur and Mont-Tremblant, go into the red zone.
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The color change will be effective from Monday. Public health says it took this decision “because of the evolution of the epidemiological situation during the last week”.
“We are seeing a significant increase in cases in two sectors of the Laurentian region, and that is why we are asking the population to redouble their efforts and vigilance,” the Minister of Health and Social Services said on Friday. Christian Dubé, by press release.
The mayor of Saint-Sauveur, Jacques Gariépy, greeted the news with great disappointment, he who had been asking for several weeks that the Legault government put in place measures to curb the influx of visitors from red zones. He regrets not having been consulted before the change of alert level, despite his repeated requests.
“It was obvious that there were a lot of people. We were inundated on weekends. That’s why I’ve been asking the government for two months to put measures to limit access to people in red zones, whether by roadblocks or other means, ”the mayor said in an interview. at LCN.
The Legault government never followed up on his request, believing that the roadblocks “were not necessary”.
Mr. Gariépy is sorry to learn that restaurants in Saint-Sauveur will have to close their doors on Monday, two weeks before the holiday season.
“The weekend purchases have been made, the purchases for the next few weeks too. Restaurant owners will incur expenses that they should not have incurred if they had known before. The messages were not clear, they should have been made earlier and we should have been consulted, ”said Mayor Gariépy.
In addition to the financial repercussions, the population of Saint-Sauveur is also worried about the virus taking hold in the community.
“It’s been weeks that citizens have called me and written to tell me that they are worried about this situation,” said Mayor Gariépy.
On Friday, the Laurentians region recorded 104 new cases of the coronavirus disease.
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