More people appear to be taking to cold-water swims as a way to beat the COVID-19 blues. Victoria's Andy Bernhart says when he started taking cold ocean dips at Willows Beach there were only a few diehards, but people are now flocking to the chilly water. He says a cold-water swimmers Facebook page he started in Victoria has grown to 258 members.He said this growth has occurred in about a year and other groups are also boasting more swimmers. Bernhart says a jolt of cold water can help relieve pandemic-related stress and depression.

Transition documents suggest president-elect Joe Biden plans to block the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in the White House.The documents, seen by The Canadian Press, include a to-do list dated Wednesday that includes rescinding the construction permit signed by predecessor Donald Trump.Campaign officials promised in May that if elected, Biden would cancel the controversial cross-border project, but the timeline was never clear until now.The pipeline expansion would ferry up to 830,000 additional barrels a day of diluted bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to refineries along the U.S. Gulf

BC reported 509 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the province's total to 60,117. There have been nine new deaths from the virus since the province's last update. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement that there are 4,604 active cases of COVID-19. They say residents must continue to work together as short-term production delays affect the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. So far, 75,614 people have received COVID-19 vaccine shots in BC. 349 people are currently hospitalized, of those 68 are in intensive care.

Search and rescue crews say they have found an Instagram influencer who got lost yesterday in Cypress Mountain Provincial Park. According to fresh reports, the woman has died. North Shore Rescue says the 21 year old identified only as an influencer from Toronto named Nikki got lost on the Howe Sound Crest Trail yesterday. It says she had posted from the top of St. Mark's and was located late this morning in a steep drainage. Rescue crews said she would have to be flown out but there was no word on her condition. Message posted by North Shore Rescue on Facebook before Nikki was found: (NSR is

The Victoria councillor who admits to ignoring public health advice and travelling to East Africa last month has now apologized to his fellow council members. Sharmarke Dubow offered the apology yesterday during a council committee meeting. In his first in-person comments since returning from Somalia and Kenya, Dubow says he considered his trip was essential because his family in Africa depends on him for financial assistance, but he now realizes his choice was wrong. He told council that by travelling when so many others were not, he "let down" the community.Dubow says he recognizes the "inc

Canada's top doctor says BC is sending an important message to the rest of the country as officials in this province explore limits on interprovincial travel. Doctor Theresa Tam, chief medical officer of health, says now is not the time for vacation travel, across the country or anywhere else. She says halting interprovincial travel would be a difficult decision but could limit potential contact with COVID-19 carriers, slowing the spread of the virus. Premier John Horgan said yesterday that his government is seeking legal opinions on whether restrictions can be placed on visitors to BC. This

A year after COVID-19 was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the global death toll has topped two-million. Johns Hopkins University says the count ticked over today. The US has the highest death toll at 390 thousand. Many health experts are predicting another year of loss and hardship in places like Iran, India, Mexico and Brazil. These four countries accounting for about a quarter of the world's deaths. Also Friday, the WHO's Emergencies Committee issued new recommendations that countries should not require proof of vaccination by incoming travellers amid the pandemic, saying decis

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says Canada is on track to hit 10,000 new daily infections of COVID-19 by the end of the month. Prime Minister Trudeau says he knows that's not what Canadians want to hear. New modelling shows the total number of cases could reach 796,630 by January 24th. By the same date another 2,000 people could die. And Tam says that means Canada's already-stretched health care system could face its breaking point. The new modelling was released this morning as Procurement Minister Anita Anand revealed global supply issues will temporarily delay vaccine shipment

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is working day in and day out to get vaccines delivered as quickly as possible. But he says with an undertaking this historic, it's only to be expected that there will be a few bumps along the way. Pfizer-BioNTech is temporarily reducing deliveries of its COVID-19 vaccine to Canada because of production issues in Europe.Trudeau says it is an issue out of our hands. Trudeau says this does not impact the goal to have enough vaccines for every Canadian who wants one by September.