Today, we are reporting 640 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 44,103 cases in British Columbia. 399 of those new cases were found in the Fraser Health region. There have been 24 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 692 deaths in British Columbia The province has beefed up enforcement of COVID-19 public health orders a day after Premier John Horgan warned of a crackdown on violators. It says in a release that effective today, it’s adding resources to help police with COVID-19 enforcement. The release says tickets can now also be handed out by community
safety units, liquor and cannabis inspectors, gaming inspectors and conservation officers. It also says that tickets that are overdue but not disputed will be sent directly to collections after 30 days instead of the usual year.
A tragic and bizarre incident in Surrey has claimed the life of a woman after she was struck by an empty cargo truck that rolled into traffic, then onto a sidewalk where she was walking with her children yesterday afternoon. It happened near 144th Street and 61A Ave. Police aren’t releasing anymore information about the woman, but do say the driver associated with the truck stayed on scene and is cooperating with police.
Twenty-one people in B.C. have lost their lives to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours as the province administered its first COVID-19 vaccine. Another 522 infections were added, which is the lowest single-day count since Nov. 20. More people continue to be hospitalized because of COVID-19, marking a new record of 361. The number of patients in critical care has also gone up to 93 people currently in the ICU.
A health-care worker in the Lower Mainland became the first person in B.C. to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The 64-year-old residential care aide was given the dose, marking a major milestone in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus. Immunizations of Pfizer’s vaccine got underway yesterday afternoon.
The province plans get tougher on British Columbians who still aren’t willing to follow COVID-19 health orders. Speaking shortly before B.C. delivered its first COVID-19 vaccine, Premier John Horgan said work is being done to ramp up enforcement in the coming weeks. He stressed there will be consequences for those who try to get around the health orders and find loopholes.
Teachers in Surrey are throwing down the gauntlet, demanding B.C.’s top doctor bring in policy changes in the classrooms. The highly-charged letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Ministry of Health needs to listen to teachers in Surrey about the “reality of our experiences.” In the letter, the teachers union is demanding the number of students on campus at any one time be cut in half, noting that Surrey teachers are currently attempting to educate around 75,000 kindergarten to grade 12 students in 130 schools. The Surrey Teachers Association also notes that several teachers have contracted COVID, with at least one ending up in the ICU, while Fraser Health has been forced to close two schools in the district.
While provincial restrictions around most indoor activities remain in effect, BC health officials have lifted restrictions on certain indoor group exercises they define as “low-intensity.” An updated order from the BC Centre for Disease Control states “indoor group low intensity exercise may resume with an updated COVID-19 Safety Plan,” According to the updated guidelines, permitted activities now include:
Barre
Exercise machines/cardio equipment
Light weightlifting
Pilates
Stretching
Tai-Chi
Yoga
The Canada Energy Regulator says a contractor was seriously injured Tuesday at a Trans Mountain construction site in British Columbia. Chief executive officer Gitane De Silva says in a statement
Wednesday that her thoughts are with the person who was hurt, their family, fellow workers and others affected. She says the injury at the site in Burnaby was reported to the Canada Energy Regulator late Tuesday and its safety specialists were on-site Wednesday. De Silva says those specialists will oversee the company’s investigation and conduct an assessment of risk and potential non-compliances. The statement adds that all site construction has stopped, and the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee for the project has been notified.
Health Canada warns that counterfeit vaccines are not only ineffective at protecting against COVID-19 — they may pose serious risks to one’s health. The federal regulator says Canadians should not buy COVID-19 vaccines online or from other unauthorized sources. Health Canada says the only way to be safely immunized against COVID-19 is through clinics that are either organized or endorsed by a local public health authority.
The search has been called off for a missing sailor based in Esquimalt who was lost at sea off the coast of California this week. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued a statement of condolences to the family and shipmates of Master Sailor Duane Earle. Earle is believed to have accidentally fallen overboard the H-M-C-S Winnipeg on Monday, as the ship was returning to B-C from a deployment. Forty-seven-year-old Earle was last seen aboard early Monday morning and crew noticed he was missing several hours later.
The B-C Teachers’ Federation is asking for relaxed teaching requirements to give teachers a respite if the province won’t extend the winter break. President Teri Mooring says stress levels are high in the Fraser Health region in particular, where some schools have sent home more than a dozen notices of possible exposures to COVID-19. She says it’s an especially difficult time for teachers who have been supporting both virtual and in-person learning, despite assurances from the province that wouldn’t happen. The teachers’ union continues to call for mandatory masks in classrooms and a maximum class size of 15 students
The Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna says several seasonal employees have been let go following a COVID-19 outbreak. the resort said that dismissals began last week of staff who violated its Social Responsibility Contract. Interior Health announced yesterday it had found 60 cases of COVID-19 linked to the ski resort. Health officials had begun contract tracing following a party in late November with about 20 to 25 people in attendance.