B-C is reporting one-thousand-933 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days and 17 more deaths. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says 348 people have now died after contracting COVID-19. The number of people in hospital has hit a record 277, including 59 in intensive care. Henry says the new two weeks are critical in lowering the level of COVID transmissions in the province to keep schools and businesses open and to protect the health care system.
As COVID-19 infections surge, B-C’s seniors advocate is calling for rapid testing of all staff at long-term care homes. Isobel Mackenzie says rapid tests that produce results within 30 minutes could help catch infected staff who aren’t experiencing symptoms and who could unknowingly spread the illness. About 3.8 million of the tests that don’t need to be processed in a lab recently arrived in Canada and many provincial health authorities across the country are still evaluating how to use them. B-C’s provincial health officer, Doctor Bonnie Henry, has said the rapid tests are not as sensitive as lab tests
The latest sweeping health order impacting Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley will likely mean some major local holiday events are getting postponed or even cancelled. Ahead of the weekend, the Vancouver Park Board said it was going to ask for clarity when it comes to Stanley Park Bright Nights and the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden. Both events would normally get underway this week, but indoor and outdoor community events have been suspended province wide until at least Dec. 7.
A cyclist and a motorist have both been injured after a car drove into a Surrey sandwich shop Saturday night. The incident happened just before 6:00 p.m. on University Drive and 104th Avenue. Mounties say the car was involved in a collision with an electric bicycle and then plowed into the shop’s exterior glass wall. The cyclist was taken to the hospital in stable condition, with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the car had minor injuries and is cooperating with the police investigation.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver is calling out what it says is a double standard in new COVID-19 restrictions on worship services. The provincial health order bans all in-person religious services until at least December 7th in order to fight the surging number of infections, especially in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. Archbishop of Vancouver J. Michael Miller says the move was puzzling given that no community outbreaks had been reported in any of the church’s 78 parishes — although provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry has said there’s been transmission of the illness in some faith-based settings. Miller says the restrictions appear to treat religious gatherings indoors differently than secular ones, since bars, restaurants and some gyms can remain open.
Fraser Health is warning of two possible exposures to COVID-19 at a gym in Burnaby and a nail salon in Langley. The health authority is warning people who were at Gritt Athletics between November 9th and 12th to self-isolate for 14 days starting the last time they were at the gym. It’s warning anyone who was at Haven Nails and Spa between November 14th and 17th to do the same. There were more than 71-hundred active cases in B-C as of the province’s last update and the latest numbers from over the weekend are expected later today.
A resident in long term care at Queen’s Park Care Centre has tested positive for COVID-19. Fraser Health has declared an outbreak, and a rapid response team is at the site. Communication with residents and families is underway.This outbreak is confined to long term care. The resident is currently in self-isolation in their home in long term care.
Enhanced control measures have been put in place at the site. Fraser Health is working with staff to identify anyone who may have been exposed and is taking steps to protect the health of all staff, residents and families.
A third experimental COVID-19 is showing impressive results, with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca saying late-stage trials of their vaccine candidate suggest it is up to 90 per cent effective. Preliminary data from Pfizer and Moderna have shown their vaccines to be almost 95 per cent effective. But unlike those two, the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn’t have to be stored at ultracold temperatures, making it easier to distribute. Ottawa has arranged to buy up to 20 million doses, should it be approved by Health Canada.
Police in Delta say a man and woman face charges following an investigation into a parent’s discovery of cannabis edibles in their child’s Halloween treat bag. Inspector Guy Leeson says police searched a home in North Delta last Friday and seized thousands of cannabis edibles. He says they also shut down an illegal cannabis extraction lab. Two people who were arrested have been released but Leeson says police anticipate recommending a number of charges, including distribution to minors.
Christmas Eve is just 31 sleeps away but at least some of the days leading up to the big event might not feel very festive. Health Minister Adrian Dix confirms last week’s public health order banning all social gatherings until December 7th also applies to holiday favourites such as the Stanley Park Bright Nights Christmas Train and the The Magic of Christmas at Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Indoor and outdoor gatherings had been approved to proceed but a continuing surge in COVID-19 cases in B-C prompted the tougher public health order, locking down all major events across the province. It’s hoped some holiday gatherings, religious services and other social events will be allowed to resume after December 7th — if B-C can reduce the number of COVID-19 infections over the next two weeks.
A Hudson’s Bay store in Coquitlam Centre has closed, and a letter posted Saturday on its front door indicates the closure is due to lack of payment of rent. A letter posted on the door of the department store says the landlord has terminated the store’s lease. Hudson’s Bay, like many retailers, has struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed people to do more shopping online.
A new report from Royal Bank says men are picking up jobs at three times the rate that women are leaving the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. The RBC study is reporting more than 20,000 women left the workforce between February and October, while 68,000 men joined in the same period. While the pandemic plays a role in the women leaving the workforce, demands of raising children are also likely to blame, according to the study. And for women who aren’t raising children, they are reportedly returning to school to upgrade skills.
The leader of BC’s Liberal party announced that he will be immediately stepping down to make way for a new party leader. Following his party’s loss to the NDP in October, Andrew Wilkinson initially said he would be leaving the position once a new leader was selected. However, in a Facebook post on Saturday, Wilkinson announced that he would be stepping down immediately.
After weeks of delay, the U-S federal government has finally acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden was the “apparent winner” of the November 3rd election. The move clears the way for co operation on a transition of power. It came after Donald Trump suffered yet more legal and procedural defeats in his futile effort to overturn the election with baseless claims of fraud. Trump’s effort to stave off the inevitable — formal recognition of his defeat — is facing increasingly stiff resistance from the courts and fellow Republicans with just three weeks to go until the Electoral College meets to certify Biden’s victory
‘Jeopardy!” record-holder Ken Jennings will be the first in a series of interim hosts replacing Alex Trebek when the show resumes production next Monday. The producers have announced Jennings, who won 74 games in a row and claimed the show’s ”Greatest of All Time” title in a competition last year, will host episodes that air in January. A long-term host for Trebek, who died of cancer November 8th, will be named later