Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is warning that British Columbia is at a critical juncture in the fight against COVID-19. New variants originally identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom have made their way to BC, and with new cases plateauing at around 500 a day, Dr. Henry says she's "very concerned." She says the strategy for fighting the new variants is the same as for the predominant strain and urged British Columbians not to travel right now unless it's essential. At the same time, she says officials are temporarily widening the gap between two doses of the Pfizer vac

Police in Victoria say they took an armed youth into custody yesterday morning. The youth was taken into custody after they received multiple 9-1-1 calls to a residential building. Officers say they responded to reports of a young man stabbing the hallway floor and threatening to harm people. They say they negotiated the suspect into custody at gunpoint and a knife was recovered during the arrest. Police allege the youth threatened to harm officers and others.The youth was held in custody for court, although they did not specify any charges against him.

After clashes between protestors and police in several parts of Delhi farmers on Tuesday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said it was calling off the Kisan Republic Day 'tractor rally' "with immediate effect" but said that peaceful protests will continue."We have appealed to all participants to immediately return back to their respective protest sites. The movement will be continued peacefully and further steps will be discussed and decided soon," the SKM said in an official statement.SKM said it condemns and regrets the violence that took place in the national capital during the farmers' prot

Canada's anxiety-laden COVID-19 vaccine programs are facing further threats as Europe warns drug makers it might impose export controls on European-made vaccine doses.All of Canada's current vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are made in Europe, potentially putting at risk the entirety of Canada's vaccine deliveries.Europe like Canada is being shorted on deliveries from Pfizer as the company slows production to expand its plant in Belgium.But AstraZeneca has also now informed Europe productions issues will reduce initial deliveries of its vaccine, which Europe is expected to appro

British Columbia's top doctor says the province is extending the interval between the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Bonnie Henry says further delays in the production and delivery of the vaccine over the next two weeks prompted health officials to extend the time period between the shots from 35 to 42 days. She says about 60 per cent of the more than 119,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in the province so far have been used to protect residents of long-term care homes. Dr. Henry provided an update on B.C.'s vaccine supply on Monday while reporting 26 more de

A third-party report examining how the British Columbia government responded to COVID-19 in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic reveals confusion over policies and infection prevention. The report, by Ernst & Young, says specific policy orders from the provincial health officer were interpreted differently by health authorities and there were gaps in infection prevention and control as well as emergency preparedness. It also highlighted a lack of consistent provincial policy on how health authorities and facility operators handled residents who tested positive for C

Brampton Centre MP Ramesh Sangha has been kicked out of the Liberal caucus. Government whip Mark Holland says in a statement that Sangha was removed from caucus after making what he calls "baseless and dangerous accusations" against a number of fellow Liberal MPs. He does not specify what accusations Sangha made. Holland says Liberals have been clear that they won't tolerate "conspiracy theories or dangerous and unfounded rhetoric about parliamentarians or other Canadians." Holland adds it's not unusual for many Canadians to "experience suspicions because of their background" and that the Lib

The BC Liberal party and BC Care Providers Association want to know why the provincial government stalled the release of a report examining how BC's long-term care homes handled the first wave of the pandemic. The Ministry of Health says the report, completed last fall, will be released today. More than 40 groups, including the Care Providers Association, were consulted after Ernst & Young was commissioned by the ministry to conduct the study. More than half of BC's deaths from COVID-19 have been in long-term care facilities. A spokesperson for SafeCare BC, says seeing the report earlier

Preliminary lab tests suggest Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine produced a weaker immune response to the South African variant of the virus. So out of an abundance of caution, Moderna will test a possible booster dose against it. Vaccine manufacturers have been testing their shots against variants, including two that first emerged in Britain and South Africa. Pfizer has previously reported that its shot appears effective against the strain from Britain. Although some other research has raised questions about the vaccine's effectiveness on South African variant.