Residents at long-term care facilities in British Columbia are now able to have in-person visits after months of being limited to virtual meetings or phone calls because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says restrictions stopping family visits to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable people will now be eased to allow one designated person to see a long-term care resident. She says the designation could be expanded to allow more visitors in the future, but she wants to start slowly. Henry says she is immensely aware of the impacts the restrictions

About 500 passengers aboard the BC ferry travelling between Duke Point in Nanaimo and Tsawwassen on the Mainland, had a lengthy voyage and ended up right back where they started last night. They were aboard the Coastal Celebration when it broke down shortly after leaving Nanaimo yesterday evening, but it took more than four hours to tow the ship back to Nanaimo so the passengers could get off. The mishap capped a tough day for BC ferries as another of its vessels endured heavy traffic and a stalled vehicle that put it hours behind schedule on the Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay run. But the delay me

BC now has more than 2,900 cases of COVID-19 after 26 new cases were reported over the past three days. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says only two of those cases were reported from yesterday to today and there have been no new deaths. Henry also says she's concerned that Canadian airlines are ending physical distancing rules on flights. Health Minister Adrian Dix says airlines are the responsibility of Transport Canada and he's waiting to hear an explanation from the federal agency for allowing the change.

The Province has appointed the City of Surrey’s first police board members as part of Surrey’s transition from an RCMP detachment to a municipal police department.The lieutenant governor in council has appointed seven community members under section 23(1)(c) of the Police Act to the City of Surrey’s municipal police board, joining the mayor of Surrey as chair and a municipal council appointee to complete the nine-person board: Chief Harley Chappell, elected Chief of the Semiahmoo First NationCheney Cloke, director, Fraser Health AuthorityElizabeth Model, CEO, Downtown Surrey Business Imp

Lululemon Athletica Inc., Mountain Equipment Co-op and Arc'teryx are joining a growing list of top international brands vowing not to advertise on Facebook Inc. in July because of hateful content that continues to spread on the social media platform. The Vancouver-based athleticwear companies confirmed to The Canadian Press that they are pulling their paid ads from Facebook and joining the #StopHateForProfit boycott that has already been supported by Coca-Cola, Unilever, Honda America, Patagonia and more. Champions of the boycott say Facebook has not done enough to keep white supremacists and

Health officials say one more person has died from COVID-19 and 10 have tested positive in British Columbia. In a joint statement, Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say the new figures bring the total confirmed cases to 2,878. The new total includes a data correction of one case from yesterday's report. Dix and Henry say there are 159 active cases in the province and 2,545 people who tested positive have recovered. The First Nations Health Authority announced today that 87 First Nations individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, a rate below the pro

Residents of the eastern Fraser Valley will be keeping a close watch on the level of the Fraser River this weekend as it swells with snowmelt and runoff from recent heavy rains in the Interior. The Fraser Valley Regional District has issued evacuation alerts for 29 low-lying homes and businesses outside diked areas, including an RV park, housing development and other properties between Mission and Kent. A release from the district says the level of the river had edged past 5.5 metres at the gauge in Mission by yesterday morning, an increase of almost a metre since June 11th. Officials say flo

First Nations health officials say the COVID-19 pandemic has had only a modest effect on BC's Indigenous communities, and the reason is rooted in history. Dr. Shannon McDonald, acting chief medical officer for the First Nations Health Authority and Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC's provincial health officer, made those comments during a news conference this morning. They say First Nations suppressed the spread of COVID-19 by relying on lessons learned centuries ago as diseases carried by outsiders decimated Indigenous populations. McDonald says 87 cases of the virus have been reported among B-C's Indige

BC is reporting 20 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths, both residents of long-term care centres. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says one of the new cases is a teacher in the Fraser Health region but she says no students were exposed to the virus. It's the second case linked to a school since classes resumed earlier this month. Henry notes today is the last day of classes for the current school year and congratulates students for making it through one of the most challenging years anyone can remember. The new cases push the total in the province to 2,869 including 173 deaths