The man convicted in a shooting that injured a Metro Vancouver Transit Police officer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. Daon Glasgow, 37, was sentenced in Surrey Provincial Court Wednesday. Glasgow has remained behind bars since he was arrested shortly after the incident With credit for time served, he will remain in prison for another 15 years and 301 days. Glasgow shot Const. Joshua Harms, injuring his hand and arm, on Jan. 30, 2019 at the Scott Road SkyTrain platform. Three days before, Glasgow robbed a cannabis store in Vancouver and shot a customer in the leg. He used the same firearm for both shootings. Glasgow was handed eight years for the robbery and 10 years for the SkyTrain shooting to be served consecutively.
BC Premier John Horgan addressed anti-Asian hate crimes in BC following Tuesday night’s deadly shooting spree in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed eight people, six of them Asian women. “Violence that targets women is hate. Violence that targets the Asian community is hate. There’s no excuse,” wrote Horgan. “We have seen hate here in our province, and we must all stand against it – wherever, and whenever it occurs.”On Tuesday night, a white gunman attacked three Atlanta-area massage parlours and spas, killing eight victims, six of whom were Asian women. On Wednesday, the Atlanta Police Department charged the 21-year-old suspect with eight counts of murder. In a news conference, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said authorities “are not there as of yet” in determining if the shootings were hate crimes. The shootings come at a time when anti-Asian hate crimes in the US increased 150% in 2020. At the time, Premier Horgan called the trend “deeply troubling.” He also addressed the statistics in a February press conference where he provided some more details about his government’s plan to bring forward new anti-racism legislation this year.
I-C-B-C says COVID-19 rebate cheques are temporarily delayed due to a cyberattack on a third party contracted for printing and distribution services. The insurance corporation says there is no indication that customer names, addresses, dollar amounts or cheque numbers were obtained, and the attack did not impact I-C-B-C’s own systems, which are secure. I-C-B-C had planned to start sending one-time COVID rebates averaging 190-dollars per customer this week, after saving about 600-million dollars due to decreases in crashes and costs during the first wave of the pandemic.
The corporation says it put plans on hold when it learned of the cyberattack and it’s optimistic the delay will be minimal.
B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan is being updated — again — and it may see certain groups of people get their shots sooner than initially thought. This comes as the premier hints at more freedoms for those immunized against the virus. John Horgan was asked whether he anticipates if his government would be allowing people who are vaccinated to do certain things people who aren’t vaccinated can’t do. Horgan said the simple answer is “yes” — but also would not give a clear explanation as to what that might look like. However, he stressed the importance of people remaining vigilant in the fight against COVID-19, saying British Columbians have “already done so well.” He also cautioned against lifting restrictions too soon, admitting he doesn’t want to give anyone false hope. The premier joins Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix Thursday afternoon when the province is set to provide an update on its vaccine rollout plan. The latest is expected to include how the AstraZeneca vaccine will be put to use, after doses of the drug began arriving in B.C. this week.
Barring any issues, Major-General Dany Fortin says enough doses of COVID-19 should arrive in the country so that every adult could get a first shot before Canada Day. But due to the threat of vaccine production issues, the government’s official line is that Canadians will be fully vaccinated by the end of September. And the calculations rely on the provinces continuing to delay second doses up to four months to get first doses to more people sooner. Almost seven per cent of Canadians have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 1.6 per cent have received two doses..
The Canada-U.S. land border will remain closed to non-essential traffic for at least another month, with the federal government announcing that restrictions have been extended until April 21. “We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe from #COVID19,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in a tweet, confirming the extension. Measures at Canada’s land crossings were brought in through a mutual agreement with the U.S. in March of last year, as cases of the coronavirus skyrocketed south of the border and as concerns about spread grew. It’s unclear when the border closure may be lifted, as vaccination efforts continue both in Canada and the U.S. Canada has lagged behind other countries in getting its population inoculated. Earlier this month, some politicians in B.C. and Washington state were at odds over when the restrictions should be lifted. Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford has said the border needs to be closed until there are “strong vaccination levels over here on the Canadian side” and that the reopening should only take place when there is scientific data supporting the move.
BC has confirmed 498 new cases of COVID-19 as the total number diagnosed since the pandemic began nears 90-thousand. Four more people have died, pushing the death toll to one-thousand-411. A statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix reminds people to stick to the same group of up to 10 people when gathering outdoors with safety measures in place. More than 444-thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and appointment bookings are now open for people aged 82 and older, along with Indigenous peoples over 65.
More than 300-thousand front-line workers in B-C will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in the coming weeks. The province says grocery workers, police, firefighters, teachers, postal employees and others on the front-lines are considered priority groups and will be eligible to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Premier John Horgan says immunizing front-line workers makes workplaces and communities throughout the province safer. Health Minister Adrian Dix says B-C expects to receive about 340-thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of May.
The drug regulatory agency of the European Union says experts have concluded the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in blood clot risk. The finding from the European Medicines Agency could open the way for European countries that had suspended the use of the vaccine to resume dispensing the shots. The agency says, while it recommends its use, it also suggests a description of certain rare types of blood clots be added to the vaccine leaflets for AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca says it reviewed the safety records of 17 million patients who received the vaccine in Europe and the U-K. The drugmaker says it found no causal link between its product and blood clots.