Vancouver's fire department is preparing to stop responding to the site of non-critical medical calls in order to preserve its resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fire Chief Darrell Reid says the department is looking at changing its service model so that firefighters only respond to the most critical medical calls, which may include COVID-19 cases in the future. But he says the idea is to triage calls to ensure the department can still respond to major fires and other emergencies. Under a triage system, he says emergency calls will be prioritized using a scoring system based on their sev

BC is reporting three more deaths from the new coronavirus. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said all three deaths occurred over the weekend and all are related to an outbreak at the Lynn Valley long term care centre in North Vancouver, where the first death occurred earlier this month. Henry has also ramped up the restriction on the size of permitted gatherings, ordering cancellation of any events where more than 50 people are likely to attend, the limit was set at 150 people last week. The province also plans to restrict long-term care access to essential visitors, only, in an eff

Port Coquitlam has joined Surrey, Delta and West Vancouver in closing all libraries, rec centres and other municipal facilities and scaling back civic services in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. The city of Vancouver is expected to make an announcement about its services this afternoon. This follows cancellation of many events over the weekend, the closure of 10 casinos operated by Great Canadian Gaming and several ski resorts, including Mount Washington on Vancouver Island and Whistler Blackcomb, and the closure or reduction in hours of many stores and malls, including Pacific Centr

The annual Vancouver Vaisakhi parade has been cancelled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.The parade was scheduled to happen on April 18, 2020.Each year this celebration draws over 150,000 spectators.It’s the first time in the event’s 41 year history that it’s been cancelled.Organizers said they look forward to everyone’s participation and enjoyment in next year’s parade.

City of Surrey Recreation Centres, Ice Arenas, Pools and Libraries will be closed effective tomorrow (Monday, March 16) until further notice. Mayor Doug McCallum has directed the closure of all City of Surrey Recreation Centres, Ice Arenas, Pools and Libraries to minimize the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Full refunds will be provided to anyone who has registered for activities affected by the closure and library due dates will be suspended during this period. “Given the ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19, I am taking a proactive approach to ensure the health and saf

Public health officials say there are nine new cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia.Dr. Bonnie Henry says the new cases bring the provincial total up to 73.Five cases are connected to a cluster at the Lynn Valley Care Centre, one case is linked to travel from Portugal and the remaining three cases are under investigation.Henry says the province is also adapting its testing strategy, noting more cases are expected in the coming days.She says not everyone needs to get tested, even if they have recently travelled outside of Canada.

British Columbia has 11 new cases of COVID-19, all of them in the Vancouver area, bringing the total in the province to 64. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the new cases also involve an ``additional cluster'' that was reported earlier today at the Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. Three administrative workers at the hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. Vancouver Coastal Health says they are in self-isolation at home and are recovering. Henry says they have not worked in the hospital's clinical areas. There is also another case related to the Lynn Valley Care Centr

Three administrative workers at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver have tested positive for COVID-19. Vancouver Coastal Health says they are in self-isolation at home and are recovering. The health authority says they have not worked in the hospital's clinical areas. The authority's medical health officers are investigating the source of the transmission and following up with other staff members who might have had close contact with the infected employees. Starting today, the health authority says only family members are allowed to visit the hospital, out of an abundance of caution. There

Metro Vancouver Transit Police are asking for the public's help identifying a man wearing a pink shirt who allegedly violently robbed an elderly man on Pink Shirt Day, or Anti-Bullying Day.Transit police say on the morning of February 26th the man in the pink shirt approached the elderly man on a SkyTrain that had just left Granville Station in Vancouver.Police say the suspect reached into the elderly man's pocket and took five dollars before punching him in the face multiple times, breaking his glasses.The suspect left the train at Main Street-Science World Station and paramedics were called