Surging COVID-19 cases in Surrey make it B.C.’s hot spot and is has companies worried they’re going to have to close down again just as they were reopening. In an effort to get people taking the pandemic seriously, the Surrey Board of Trade is working with the South Asian Business Association of B.C. on a campaign to get the message out. The campaign is imploring the people of Surrey to be personally responsible for following COVID-19 precautions at work and at home. Fraser Health is reporting 75 per cent of the active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. right now, and more than half the cases since the start. Public health says the base of the massive surge in coronavirus cases is people having private gatherings.
B.C. health officials are reporting more than 200 new COVID-19 cases along with one new outbreak at a health-care facility in Surrey. Dr. Bonnie Henry reporting 287 new cases to be exact. The recent cases bring the province’s case total to 13,875. Two more COVID-19 related deaths were reported for a total of 261 deaths.
The Surrey Teachers’ Association is warning to expect staffing shortages at district schools due to COVID-19 to get even worse. About a third of all worksites in the school district have recorded at least one COVID-19 exposure if a teacher is away sick and one cannot be found to replace them, others in a school have to fill in. Most teachers in the district support making masks mandatory.
Sixteen B.C. firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19 after fighting wildfires in California despite strict protocols to curb the spread of the virus. Three of the firefighters contracted the virus while in the U.S., with the 13 others testing positive upon their return. More than 400 BC firefighters travelled to the U.S. this summer to help battle the wildfires.
COVID-19 may succeed where the Grinch failed and prevent Christmas from coming for a lot of people this year. Public health experts are advising everyone to brace for a scaled-back holiday season. Infectious diseases expert Dr. Andrew Morris says Christmas won’t get cancelled, but he doesn’t think it should include big family gatherings and midnight mass.
Police in Delta are warning kids to walk in groups and carry cellphones with them after several suspicious incidents involving a man in a burgundy vehicle. According to Delta Police, a teenaged girl was approached by a man Wednesday morning around 9:15 near 11th and 52A ave in Tsawwassen. The man pulled up in his car and asked the girl what she was doing and where she was going. She didn’t respond but instead reported the incident to police later in the day. Another teenage girl said a man in a similar car had pulled a slow U-turn in front of her a few days later but in that case, he didn’t say anything. Police are actively investigating these incidents and are stepping up patrols in the area.