B-C health officials say yesterday marked the tragic anniversary of the first B-C death related to the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been nearly 14-hundred more deaths since then. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry also reported 550 new cases and another two deaths yesterday. B-C currently has almost five-thousand active cases and of those, 249 people are in hospital, 68 of them in intensive care.
expectations. Adrian Dix says only 369 bookings were made in Vancouver Coastal on Monday because it was the only authority without a backup call centre to support the one provided by Telus. He says Telus should be held accountable for the failure in that region. Results were better yesterday in the Vancouver Coastal region with more than three-thousand appointments booked.
BC Premier John Horgan expressed his optimism on Tuesday around the potential return to small in-person gatherings in the very near future. Horgan made the comments during a press conference, after he was asked about Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s comments on Monday around the timeline and process for easing some restrictions in the coming weeks.
And while she stressed that BC is currently not in a place to return to pre-pandemic gatherings, Henry said the province is working with faith leaders to develop the “gradual return” of in-person religious services through a phased-in approach in the coming weeks. “We know there are many important dates coming up to many faiths, and we are working on how to best and safely attend these important and critical celebrations in our life to take place,” she said. And unless things “go off the rails” in the next few weeks, Henry said celebrations such as Easter will likely be in-person. On Tuesday, Horgan said he shares Henry’s optimism that by the end of March and into early April, people “will be looking forward to coming together, in small numbers to be sure, but coming together to recognize these spiritual moments in the faiths of British Columbians.” From there, he said, the province will then be “looking optimistically towards the summer and a return to normal activity.”
The City of White Rock’s Finance and Audit Committee has moved forward a 2021-2025 financial plan that includes a proposed 4.28 per cent tax rate increase for 2021. On Monday (March 8) the committee, which includes all members of council and mayor, also approved a staff recommendation for the city to hire a full-time planning technician. Financial implications of the new hire would push the city further into the red, equating to an approximate .45 per cent increase to the 2022 tax rate, raising it to 4.82 per cent. Additional tax increases are projected to be 2.4 per cent each year from 2023-2025. City of White Rock council has not yet approved the financial plan but already has some residents up in arms saying “Like many of us in the city, we’re seniors on a fixed income and these tax hikes hit us pretty hard,” Some speakers suggested the city delay or cancel a number of capital projects to bring the tax increase down.
The U-S House has passed a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition. The bill has now gone to President Joe Biden for his signature. The 1.9-trillion-dollar bill provides direct payments of up to 14 hundred dollars for most Americans, extends emergency unemployment benefits and boosts spending for COVID-19 vaccines and testing. It also provides billions to states and cities, schools and ailing industries.
Health officials on Vancouver Island and in Northern B-C have scrapped age-related COVID-19 vaccinations in favour of immunizing entire small or remote communities at the same time — but Northern Health is now adding a larger city to the community immunization approach. The health authority says COVID-19 case and positivity rates remain stubbornly high in Prince Rupert and nearby Port Edward — even as rates dip in other parts of the region. Northern Health, the Ministry of Health and the provincial health officer say in order to protect roughly 12-thousand Prince Rupert-area residents, everyone in the city aged 18 and up will be vaccinated over the next three weeks. Clinics will begin next Monday for the city’s eldest residents while those aged between 18 and 39 will be vaccinated starting March 29th.
The head of B-C’s COVID-19 vaccination effort says nearly 30-thousand appointments were made during the first two days of the telephone booking rollout. Dr. Penny Ballem says day two of the appointment process went much more smoothly than the problem-plagued first day — thanks to changes made by Telus. Ballem says in a statement that the province is on track to get everyone who is eligible booked this week. She adds changes will be made to ensure the process easier with less delays when eligibility is expanded next week to those born in 1936 or earlier.
The memory of The Bee Gees is staying alive. Kenneth Branagh is to direct a feature film about the brothers and their journey to the top of the charts and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Barry Gibb, the lone surviving member of the trio, will be an executive producer. Casting, a title and a release date have yet to be announced.
In the last 13 weeks, about 3.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed across Canada, and another 4.2 million are expected to be dispersed over the next three. Major-General Dany Fortin says the country is stepping into Phase 2, and a virtual training exercise took place this week for everyone to make sure they are prepared for such a large increase in deliveries. The majority of the shots will arrive from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Fraser Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Fleetwood Place. In an information bulletin Tuesday (March 9), the health authority said one resident and one staff member have tested positive for the virus and are now isolating.