British Columbia's top doctor says the current wave of COVID-19 is causing less severe illness and that calls for a shift to shorter periods of isolation in order to minimize societal disruptions. Dr. Bonnie Henry says unvaccinated adults who test positive are at risk of having longer-lasting and more severe illness and must isolate for 10 days but those who are vaccinated should isolate for five days. She says children are at much lower risk of severe illness and are able to clear an infection faster, so five days' isolation is also suitable for them, with mounting evidence showing they need

A warning from Avalanche Canada about warm weather increasing the avalanche risk has been expanded through southeastern B.C. This week's warning for southern B.C. and western Alberta, including Glacier, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks, has been extended to the South Rockies and Lizard Range regions. Avalanche Canada says in a news release there are persistent weak layers in mountain snowpacks in the regions. James Floyer, forecasting program supervisor for the agency, says those layers combined with warming temperatures will make natural and human-triggered avalanches much more likely

More than 80 transit workers in Whistler have served 72-hour strike notice, saying they do the same job as bus drivers in Vancouver and Victoria and it's time to close the gap in wages. The drivers, members of Unifor, voted in favour of job action in August but haven't been able to reach a deal on issues ranging from wages and benefits to pensions and job security. Unifor national president Jerry Dias says increasingly unaffordable housing costs in Whistler will eventually snowball into a staffing crisis unless the drivers get a fair contract that keeps them from being priced out of the housi

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says a B.C. Supreme Court judge has convicted a man in the shooting death of Pritpal Singh in Surrey, B.C. Robert Tomljenovic was charged with second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm after Singh's death in April 2020. The homicide team says in a news release that Tomljenovic was convicted by the court on Thursday of robbery and a lesser charge of manslaughter. Police said at the time when charges were laid they believed the shooting was targeted, but RCMP later said it was a random shooting. Singh was 21 years old. The man will be sentenced a

Correctional Service Canada says 24 inmates at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, BC have tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak that began Monday. There were 116 active cases across all correctional facilities in BC as of Wednesday. That includes 62 cases in an ongoing outbreak at the maximum-security Kent Institution in Agassiz. The correctional service says it is monitoring the situation and staff are required to perform rapid tests to minimize the spread of the virus.

The BC Education Ministry is distributing 200,000 COVID-19 test kits to elementary and high schools in an effort to keep them open. The ministry says the number of teaching and non-teaching staff will determine how many tests a school gets. It says the rapid antigen tests are to be used by staff, teachers and administrators with symptoms of COVID-19 to help limit transmission. The tests are being sent to school districts as well as independent and First Nation schools.

Canada is giving Ukraine a $120-million loan to help bolster its economy and aid as it faces a hostile buildup of Russian forces on its borders. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the loan today, saying he was answering a request from the Ukrainian government for support.Trudeau has yet to say whether Canada will provide weapons to Ukrainian forces, impose further sanctions on Russia or extend the Canadian military training mission of Ukrainian forces beyond its expiry date at the end of March.Trudeau says he is exploring options for financial and ``other'' support.Russia has positioned a

B.C. is reporting 2,150 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 305,715 cases in the province.There are 34,835 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 265,765 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 891 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 119 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.The new/active cases include:576 new cases in Fraser HealthTotal active cases: 16,516454 new cases in Vancouver Coastal HealthTotal active cases: 8,553563 new cases in Interior HealthTotal active cases: 6,067203 new cases in Northern

Surrey RCMP is requesting the public’s assistance with information that could help police locate and arrest Amardip Singh Rai.Surrey RCMP is actively looking for 42-year old Amardip Singh Rai who is wanted on 17 charges stemming from an investigation that began in August 2019.On April 28, 2021, Amardip Singh Rai was arrested by Surrey RCMP Strike Force Target Team (SFTT) for an outstanding warrant pertaining to the August 2019 investigation. He was released by the courts on May 7, 2021 with conditions.It is alleged that Amardip Singh Rai failed to appear for a subsequent court date and there