The Americans reopen their land borders to non-essential travel today for the first time in almost 20 months. Fully vaccinated Canadians will be allowed to drive or take a ferry into the U.S. for non-essential reasons. Here’s what you need to know, if you plan on heading down,
-Adults will need to have proof they have been fully immunized against COVID-19 at least 14 days before crossing the border.
-Children under 18 will not have to prove they have been immunized as long as they are with fully vaccinated adults.
-There’s no requirement to show a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter the States.
However when you plan to come back into Canada,
-You will need to show a negative PCR test, taken no longer than 72 hours before travel.
-There is a mandatory two-week quarantine for those who don’t provide a negative test. Some travelers will be selected for random tests upon arrival.
-Everyone 12 and older will need to show proof of immunization at least 14 days before travel.
-For children under 12…they aren’t required to quarantine, they are restricted from a number of activities.
For 14 days These kids CAN NOT:
Attend school, camp or day care.
Attend a setting where they may have contact with vulnerable people (e.g. long-term care facility), including people who are immunocompromised, regardless of that person’s vaccination status or
public health measures.
Travel on crowded public transportation that does not ensure physical distancing and masking.
Attend large, crowded settings, indoors or outdoors, such as an amusement park or sporting event.
Also, children over five are required to take another COVID-19 test on Day 8.
The Metro Vancouver authority’s newly passed budget means households will pay an average of 595-dollars for all regional services next year — up 21-dollars from this year. Most of the authority’s revenue comes from utility fees. The budget also includes plans for a new facility that will transform sewage sludge into tiny, dry pellets, but project costs have increased by 70 per cent since it was first proposed in 2019.
With Remembrance Day this week, the province’s top doctor is offering guidance on how to honour veterans safely. Dr. Bonnie Henry says we have to protect our seniors, who continue to be hit the hardest by the deadly virus. She says “There can be small outdoor ceremonies, although people, need to ‘Be aware,’” adding “Older people, particularly the vets that , are in that older category — we need to make sure it’s safe for them.” Last week, the province released modelling showing the elderly are still seeing the most deaths from COVID-19, despite 90 per cent of that demographic in B.C. being fully vaccinated.
Universal Children’s Day is being celebrated in Surrey with a Kid’s Conference. The United Nations global initiative, Universal Children’s Day, is held annually on Nov. 20 to promote international togetherness, awareness among children world-wide and improve children’s welfare. In Surrey, the day will be celebrated through a series of events Nov. 18-20. Activities include bannock making, science fair, dance party, scavenger hunt, T-shirt decorating, button making and swimming. The events are being held at even recreation centres across the city. Admission is free, but registration is required.
A man who pleaded guilty to setting three Masonic buildings on fire in North Vancouver and Vancouver last March has been sentenced to 40 months in prison. With time served, 43-year-old Benjamin Kohlman’s sentences equals about two and a half years. Both Crown and defence lawyers told the judge Kohlman has addictions and mental health troubles and that voices directed him to set the fires. Judge Laura Bakan says she accepted that Kohlman is sorry for his actions, and she hopes he’ll be able to deal with his addiction issues while in prison.
Environment Canada has confirmed a tornado was spotted over the Strait of Georgia just west of the Vancouver International Airport late Saturday afternoon. The weather agency says the storm then swept over a section of the University of B-C’s Point Grey campus, downing trees and power lines across a major road to the campus. It says estimated wind speeds ranged from 90 to 110 kilometres per hour, with a preliminary rating of E-F-Zero, which is the lowest ranked on the Fujita tornado scale. No one was hurt in the storm but crews are still clearing away fallen trees and branches.
Business groups in Surrey and Bellingham, Washington, are urging the federal government to lift COVID-19 restrictions they say are still hampering travel across the U-S border. The U-S has reopened land border crossings to fully vaccinated non-essential travellers from Canada. But the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Surrey Board of Trade say Canada should immediately end a requirement that returning Canadians have a negative COVID-19 molecular test. They say the pricey tests mean border communities such as Bellingham that rely heavily on cross border travel won’t see a significant return in business.
Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for Fraser Canyon, Fraser Valley and Nicola saying the areas could see up to 15 centimetres of snow overnight before it tapers off into a few flurries. The agency also says a rapidly deepening weather system will generate strong southeast winds over the west coast of Vancouver Island, Central Coast and Haida Gwaii beginning this evening continuing into Tuesday. Meanwhile, cleanup efforts continue after a rare funnel cloud was spotted near the University of British Columbia on Saturday. It left broken branches and uprooted trees in its wake.
Vancouver police say 32 people were arrested over the weekend in a push to curb a “concerning spike” in violent shoplifting thefts in the downtown core. Sergeant Steve Addison says police recovered nearly 18-thousand dollars in stolen property and have recommended 71 new criminal charges stemming from the weekend arrests. Addison says store owners are losing thousands of dollars every day to shoplifters and they and their staff they don’t feel safe going to work after a number of violent incidents. Police say they have investigated 844 violent shoplifting cases city-wide from January 1st to October 15th — up from 752 during the same period last year, and 130 cases in 2019.
The Metro Vancouver authority’s newly passed budget means households will pay an average of 595-dollars for all regional services next year — up 21-dollars from this year. Most of the authority’s revenue comes from utility fees. The budget also includes plans for a new facility that will transform sewage sludge into tiny, dry pellets, but project costs have increased by 70 per cent since it was first proposed in 2019.
Statistics Canada says more than 19 thousand Canadians died during COVID-19 than would have been expected had the pandemic never happened. The report highlights the deadly toll COVID-19 has taken directly and indirectly on Canadian lives. According to provisional data, approximately 19-thousand, 488 more Canadians died between March 2020 and July 2021. On the flip side, some lives may have been spared by other causes, including public health measures that prevented influenza from spreading as usual last year.
British Columbia health officials announced on Monday that there have been 1,438 new test-positive COVID-19 cases since Friday, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 209,703. There were 553 cases discovered between Friday and Saturday, 462 between Saturday and Sunday, and 423 between Sunday and Monday. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 4,282 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 407 individuals are currently hospitalized and 121 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
New cases and total active cases are broken down by health region as follows:
- Fraser Health: 575 new cases, 1,832 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 155 new cases, 485 total active cases
- Interior Health: 321 new cases, 683 total active cases
- Northern Health: 166 new cases, 608 total active cases
- Island Health: 221 new cases, 615 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: No new cases, 59 total active cases
There have been 17 new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 2,218 deaths in British Columbia. Of the new deaths, five were in Fraser Health, two were in Vancouver Coastal Health, one was in Interior Health, six were in Northern Health, and three were in Island Health. To date, 90.3% of all eligible people 12 and older in BC have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; 86.0% have received their second dose. From October 29 to November 4, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 65.5% of cases and from October 22 to November 4, they accounted for 70.7% of hospitalizations.
Past week cases (October 29 to November 4) – Total 3,346
- Not vaccinated: 2,018 (60.3%)
- Partially vaccinated: 174 (5.2%)
- Fully vaccinated: 1,154 (34.5%)
Past two weeks cases hospitalized (October 22 to November 4) – Total 460
- Not vaccinated: 297 (64.6%)
- Partially vaccinated: 28 (6.1%)
- Fully vaccinated: 135 (29.3%)
Past week, cases per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (October 29 to November 4)
- Not vaccinated: 255
- Partially vaccinated0: 60.9
- Fully vaccinated: 26.6
Past two weeks, cases hospitalized per 100,000 population after adjusting for age (October 22 to November 4)
- Not vaccinated: 58
- Partially vaccinated: 14.7
- Fully vaccinated: 3