and while many encounters have likely gone unreported, so far 45 people, including five children, have been attacked by coyotes in Stanley Park. The park has been fenced off for the first time ever in an effort to keep people out overnight, and is currently closed between 7 p-m and 9 a-m.
The US Open women’s final will be a battle of the teens as Britain’s Emma Raducanu advances to her first major final Raducanu, 18, will face 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, making it the first major final between teenagers since the 1999 US Open when Serena Williams defeated Martina Hingis. Both players have had stunning US Open runs that have already made history. Fernandez, has been a giant killer, beating two former US Open champions in world No. 3 Naomi Osaka and No. 17 Angelique Kerber Following, her semi-final victory, Fernandez described her US Open experience as “magical.” Ranked 73rd heading into the US Open, Fernandez is expected to jump into the top 40 on Monday.
Lower Mainland hospitals are following the lead of Kelowna and Kamloops in postponing surgeries as COVID-19 cases continue to put pressure on a health care system struggling with staff shortages and high patient demand. A spike in Interior Health coronavirus cases has shown up particularly in the Fraser Health region, prompting the reallocation of medical resources at Surrey Memorial, Abbotsford Regional and Royal Columbian Hospital, the regional referral centre for Fraser Health, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Thursday. Asked about the prospect of more protests at hospitals next week as B.C.’s vaccine card program takes effect on Sept. 13, Dix said the province’s health professionals are providing some of the best care in the world, and they need support rather than the protests that targeted them last week.
One of Afghanistan’s first two female Olympians is urging Canada to help female athletes escape the country. Friba Rezayee (FREE’-bah rez-ah-EE’), who lives in Vancouver, says her phone lit up with messages from women pleading for help after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month. Rezayee is also the founder of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, an organization that supports Afghan women with athletic and educational opportunities. The federal government says it has received assurances from the Taliban that Afghan citizens with travel authorization from other countries will be allowed to leave the country, but it warns the security situation remains unstable.
The federal election is on Sept. 20, but if you’ve already made up your mind, you can vote early starting Friday. Advance polls will open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (local time) and stretch over four days, until Monday. Elections Canada says if you are registered to vote, you should receive a voter information card in the mail by Friday. The card has the location of your polling station. If you didn’t get a voter card, or the information on the voter card is incorrect, use the Online Voter Registration Service to check your registration, register or update your address information, or call Elections Canada at 1-800-463-6868 or 1-800-361-8935 (TTY) for assistance.
Police in North Vancouver say they’re investigating after some unusual items were stolen during a recent break-in. Police say on Twitter the replica samurai swords and a brightly-painted carved walking stick were taken from a home in the Upper Lonsdale neighbourhood on Wednesday. All four items appear to have dragon heads on their handles and police describe them as “precious heirlooms.” They are asking anyone with information to contact them.
Unemployment rates across Canada and in B-C dipped last month as 90-thousand more Canadians found work in August. Statistics Canada says the national jobless rate last month was 7.1 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent in July, while B-C’s setting was 6.2 per cent — a drop of four-tenths of a point from the month earlier.
B-C remains the only province with employment above pre-pandemic levels although regions such as the Kootenays and Abbotsford-Mission have seen increases of half a percentage point or more since July while Prince George is reporting a hike of nearly one per cent as the jobless rate jumped to 6.5 per cent last month, from 5.7 in July. Economists say job creation across Canada includes more full-time positions and is focused in the hard-hit service sector as pandemic restrictions ease. (The Canadian Press)
BC health officials announced 820 new test-positive COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 173,158. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 5,850 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 281 individuals are currently hospitalized, 135 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. New cases and total active cases, broken down by health region, are as follows:
- Fraser Health: 264 new cases, 1,750 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 112 new cases, 938 total active cases
- Interior Health: 253 new cases, 1,828 total active cases
- Northern Health: 101 new cases, 782 total active cases
- Island Health: 90 new cases, 539 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: No new cases, 13 total active cases
There have been nine new COVID-19-related deaths in BC, for a total of 1,856 deaths in British Columbia. Between September 2 and 8, people not vaccinated accounted for 78.4% of cases, and between August 26 and September 8, they accounted for 86.6% of hospitalizations.
Past week cases (September 2 to September 8) – Total 4,661
- Not vaccinated: 3,252 (69.8%)
- Partially vaccinated: 402 (8.6%)
- Fully vaccinated: 1,007 (21.6%)
Past two weeks cases hospitalized (August 26 to September 8) – Total 358
- Not vaccinated: 292 (81.6%)
- Partially vaccinated: 18 (5.0%)
- Fully vaccinated: 48 (13.4%)
Past week, cases per 100,000 population (September 2 to September 8)
- Not vaccinated: 301.2
- Partially vaccinated: 88.7
- Fully vaccinated: 26.1
To date, 85.5% of all eligible people 12 and over have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; 78% have received their second dose. 165,027 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have now recovered.
As of noon today, campers were able to spark up a campfire in almost every corner of B-C. Campfire bans that have been in place since Canada Day have now been lifted in the Kamloops Fire Centre and in the Boundary region of the Southeast Fire Centre. They were lifted earlier across the rest of the Southeast centre, as well as the Coastal, Cariboo, Northwest and Prince George centres. The only region still covered by a campfire ban is the southern third of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, as extremely dry conditions persist there. (The Canadian Press)
Federal N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh is back in B-C as he and the other party leaders return to campaigning after last night’s leader’s debate. Advance polls opened today and continue through Monday across the country and Singh, who represents the Burnaby South riding, is scheduled to vote this afternoon and hold a rally tonight. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Conservation Leader Erin O’Toole are both campaigning in southern Ontario. Green Party Leader Annamie Paul met in Ottawa this morning with candidates from Ontario and Quebec and will do some mainstreeting out of her Toronto campaign office later today.