The U.S. is extending COVID-19 restrictions on non-essential travel at its borders for yet another month, meaning Canadians will have to wait a bit longer to drive south for leisure. Citing the recent spread of COVID-19, heavily driven by the Delta variant, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed it’s extending measures at American land and ferry crossings until at least Sept. 21. The DHS says the U.S. will continue “to ensure the flow of essential trade and travel.” This comes despite Canada allowing fully vaccinated U.S. travellers into this country as of Aug. 9 without having to quarantine for two weeks. Eligible visitors must live in the U.S. and have allowed at least 14 days to pass since receiving a full course of a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine. America’s extension of border measures will undoubtedly come as a blow to many businesses and communities that had been hoping to welcome back Canadian visitors.
Another busy day of campaigning is getting underway for the top candidates in the federal election. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole will appear in Winnipeg for public events and to take questions from reporters. N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh is planning to visit the site of what is believed to be 751 unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school in Saskatchewan. Yesterday, the leaders battled over the right prescription to help the country’s health care systems and how much more funding provinces require to meet their needs during and after the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has likely put an end to people buying last-minute paper tickets with paper money outside of Vancouver’s stadiums. Thursday’s BC Lions home opener marks the first time in 656 days that thousands of sports fans were allowed inside one of the city’s arenas. The elimination of paper tickets was one of the precautions brought in to curb the potential for spreading the coronavirus, along with eliminating cash transactions for concessions. Ticket resellers, like Kingsely Bailey with Vancouver Ticket Service, have been anxiously awaiting the return of live events. But digital-only ticketing is a game-changer. Bailey says making and selling fake tickets will be much more difficult, which is a good thing. Reselling tickets on game day will likely persist, but the transaction will be a bit more complicated. The exchange of personal information complicates the transaction, and may dissuade some people from purchasing tickets outside of stadiums. He also believes the new digital system will spell the end of exorbitant price increases at the very last minute. THE BC Lions lost last night to Edmonton but it was the first live sporting event back, Dr. Bonnie Henry was at the game where she encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, and a drop-in vaccine clinic was set up before the game in nearby Terry Fox Plaza.
Reconciliation and help for Indigenous communities took prime focus on the election campaign trail today. N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh is making the campaign’s first stop in an Indigenous community with a visit to the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for reconciliation, and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole spoke of his recent visit to Cowessess as he accused Trudeau of not acting decisively enough on reconciliation.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has announced that COVID-19 restrictions in the central Okanagan are being extended to the entire Interior Health region. Henry says the aim is to contain the spread of COVID-19 — largely among those who are not vaccinated — which has been challenging due to the displacement of residents as major wildfires burn across the region. The change means a mask mandate for indoor public spaces as well as restrictions on social gatherings are now in effect across Interior Health. Henry is strongly recommending that people avoid travel to the region due to the both the COVID-19 outbreak and the volatile wildfire situation.
Getting in and out of downtown Vancouver could be challenging tomorrow as opponents of old-growth logging plan to block two major access points. The group Extinction Rebellion says it will hold a rally in the downtown core at 11 a.m. before participants fan out to occupy the Georgia Viaduct and the Cambie Street Bridge. Simultaneous blockades of other busy streets are planned for Toronto and Ottawa while the group says demonstrations are also planned in Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton. The protests are meant to highlight the U-N report declaring the climate crisis has reached a “code red for humanity,” and Extinction Rebellion says tomorrow marks the first day of Canada-wide actions also set for September 25th and escalating to civil disobedience across the country starting October 16th.
BC health officials announced 663 new test-positive COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 158,919. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 6,345 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 129 individuals are currently hospitalized, 59 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. New and total active cases, broken down by health region, are as follows:
- Fraser Health: 162 new cases, 1,169 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 135 new cases, 1,018 total active cases
- Interior Health: 274 new cases, 3,504 total active cases
- Northern Health: 38 new cases, 254 total active cases
- Island Health: 54 new cases, 391 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: No new cases, nine total active cases
There has been one new COVID-19-related death over the past 24 hours in the Fraser Health region, for a total of 1,781 deaths in British Columbia. To date, 83.0% of all eligible people 12 and over have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In total, 7,288,691 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in BC. 150,657 people who tested positive have now recovered.
Vaccination rates for eligible Surrey residents has increased by about four per cent from last week, according to the latest data from the BC Centre for Disease Control’s regional surveillance dashboard. Rates for second doses for 12-plus as of Aug. 16 are: North Surrey (70 per cent), Whalley (73 per cent), Guildford (73 per cent), West Newton (78 per cent), East Newton (75 per cent), Fleetwood (78 per cent), Cloverdale (77 per cent), Panorama (78 per cent) and South Surrey (79 per cent). That’s about 76 per cent of those who are 12-plus who are fully vaccinated, which is up four per cent from Aug. 9. First doses are at 86 per cent, which has stayed the same from the previous two reporting periods.