British Columbia is reporting 634 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 83,107 cases since the pandemic began in the province. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say in a joint statement there have also been four new fatalities, pushing the death toll from the virus to 1,380 in BC. There are four new cases that are variants of concern, bringing the total to 250, of which 222 are the strain first found in the United Kingdom and 28 are the variant first detected in South Africa. Dr. Henry and Dix say this has been a week of progress, as the province gets r

Two people have been transported to hospital in serious but stable condition after a helicopter crash on Bowen Island, B.C. B.C. Emergency Health Services says in a statement that they received a call at about 10 a.m. Friday morning for reports of a downed helicopter on the island off the coast of West Vancouver. Emergency Health Services says two patients have been airlifted to hospital. Capt. Chelsea Dubeau with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says a helicopter was initially sent to help in the rescue, before the call was cancelled. Bowen Island resident Tony Mainwaring, who was the fi

Dentists, teachers and bus drivers are among the essential workers who hope to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in British Columbia, as a provincial committee determines who should be prioritized for the shot. BC Teachers' Federation president Teri Mooring says her members should be included in the plan expected to be released by the B.C. Immunization Committee by March 18. Mooring says teachers have put in the second-highest number of COVID-19-related claims to WorkSafeBC, behind only health-care workers, and have faced difficult conditions in schools with some of the most lax mask pol

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will keep its spending focus on emergency aid and won't talk about long-term health-care funding until after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. He says Ottawa needs to keep supporting those hit hard financially by the pandemic, having sent billions in aid to businesses and individuals, as well as to provinces. Speaking at a midday press conference, Trudeau says that short-term view can't yet give way to longer-term concerns about the effect COVID-19 is having on the Canada's provincially run health-care systems. On Thursday, the country's

A coroner's jury examining the police-shooting death of a 20 year old in Surrey, B.C., has released its recommendations following a four-day inquest. Hudson Brooks died in July 2015 when he was shot nine times as he advanced toward RCMP Const. Elizabeth Cucheran during a confrontation outside the Surrey detachment. The first recommendation calls on the RCMP to increase training and improve communications related to incident management, and the second asks the Independent Investigations Office to send investigative material and findings to the RCMP so training can be improved. The third recomm

Health officials are reporting a COVID-19 outbreak in a fourth unit of Vancouver General Hospital.A statement from Vancouver Coastal Health says three patients have tested positive for the virus on surgical inpatient unit T-8-B of the Jim Pattison Pavilion.Infection prevention measures are underway on unit T-8-B including closure to admissions or transfers and suspension of all but end-of-life compassionate visits.The other three affected units are on separate floors of the pavilion, while the rest of the hospital, including the emergency room, is operating as usual. COVID-19 outbreaks have fo

Canada is getting a fourth vaccine to prevent COVID-19 as the country's health regulator has cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are eager for a one-and-done option to help speed vaccination. Canada has also approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca and Health Canada is the first major regulator to approve four difference vaccines. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine can be stored and transported at refrigerated temperatures for at least three months, facilitating distribution across the country. Health Canada Senior Ad

BC is reporting 564 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths. A total of 1,376 people have now died in the province due to the pandemic. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is also reporting 46 new cases of COVID variants of concern, raising the total to 246. The bulk of the cases, 218 are the variant first seen in the UK and the remaining 28 cases are the South Africa variant. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says BC will deploy the newly-approved AstraZeneca vaccine to first responders and other essential workers. Dr. Henry says doing so will move up the vaccination

A Canadian justice department lawyer says comments made by former U.S. President Donald Trump do not meet the standard to halt an extradition hearing of a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies. Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder and the company's chief financial officer, at Vancouver's airport in late 2018. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges. Her arrest infuriated Beijing, which sees it as a political move designed to prevent China's rise. In a 2018 interview, Trump said he would "intervene (in the case) if I thought