More Canadians are saying they think the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is yet to come, with British Columbians the most likely to hold this pessimistic view. Back in June, almost half of Canadians were optimistic but in September that number dropped to 37 per cent, according to a new poll. In B.C. 61 per cent of residents say they think the worst of the pandemic “definitely” or “probably” lies ahead. The province with the rosiest outlook is Ontario, where 40 per cent of those surveyed think things will worsen.
The latest health-care outbreak of COVID-19 in B-C is at Burnaby Hospital. The outbreak was declared on Sunday, but the Fraser Health Authority has yet to offer more details. The B-C Centre for Disease Control has also updated its list of flights leaving or arriving in our province that had a passenger with COVID-19 on board. They include one Air Canada flight and one WestJet flight from Toronto to Vancouver last Tuesday, September 1st.
More voices are calling for a delay to the start of the school year as teachers across BC prepare to welcome students back to class later this week. A lifetime educator says he feels teachers have been abandoned from the top down during the COVID-19 pandemic. He would have liked to have seen the B.C. government offer some sort of “provincial platform” to allow teachers to teach remotely, if needed. It seems like most teachers and paretns would like to see the date pushed back to Oct 1.
Surveillance video captured the moment an RV slammed into a home in Surrey on Saturday. The driver lost control behind the wheel in the area of 140 Street and 116 Avenue. Fortunately, no one was home at the time of the crash. The driver of the RV was not seriously injured, RCMP confirmed and escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
A week after rent was due, the federal government says it will extend its commercial rent-relief program for this month. Calling it a “final extension,” Ottawa says officials are looking at other options to help small businesses struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The rent-relief program provides forgivable loans covering half of the rent for eligible small businesses, and also requires
landlords to waive a further one-quarter of what they’d otherwise be owed.