The number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in B.C. has jumped by 71, a surge that Health Minister Adrian Dix says reflects the outbreak in workers at the United Poultry Co. Ltd. Twenty eight workers at the Vancouver plant have tested positive for COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says employers are expected to pay attention to the health of their staff, without penalizing them for calling in sick. Three more people have died in the province, all from long-term care homes, for a total death toll of 90. There have been 1,795 cases in the province, while 1,079 people have fully re

Transport Canada confirms an air ambulance on a night flight from Nanaimo, BC to Victoria General Hospital was deliberately targeted by someone shining a green laser from the ground. The incident happened Saturday night as the helicopter was on its final approach. The company has filed a police report. Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a federal offence under the Aeronautics Act that is punishable by fines of up to 100 thousand dollars and five years in prison.

Surrey RCMP say they have received multiple reports recently of sextortion attempts.Police say most reports were from people who received an email claiming their computer had been hacked and video had been taken of them performing an explicit act.The Mounties say people were told the material would be made public if a fee was not paid using Bitcoin but there is no proof any videos were actually taken.They say fraudsters often cite a current or former password as proof of the hack but people should ignore such emails because the information was likely obtained in a previous data breach.

Police are releasing more details about a British Columbia woman they fear may be the victim of a homicide. Metro Vancouver's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 45 year old April Parisian was last heard from on March 28 and was declared missing earlier this month.The resident of the Fraser Canyon community of Spuzzum owned a red, 1998 Chevrolet pickup with a camper and may have been with her boyfriend, Paris Margesson, and her brown pug dog. On April 16, police appealed for help and received a tip just hours later that the camper was in the Abbotsford area.Officers tried to speak to a

A chicken processing plant in Vancouver has been closed due to an out break of COVID-19. Vancouver Coastal Health says 28 employees at the United Poultry Company plant have tested positive for the virus. It says the plant was shut down yesterday and all employees have been told to self-isolate for 14 days. BC health officials say there is no evidence that COVID-19 can be spread by meat or the packaging.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is reporting 25 new cases of COVID-19 in BC. She says that increases total cases to 17-hundred and 24. Henry says another resident at a long-term care home in Vancouver Coastal Health has died, raising the death toll in the province to 87. 109 people are in hospital, including 51 in intensive care.

A survey of nearly 1,300 British Columbia businesses reveals just over half of those already closed to due COVID-19 restrictions expect to reopen. The BC Chamber of Commerce and several partners took part in the Mustel survey, which shows a further 38 per cent of businesses are unsure about reopening and eight per cent already know they won't be back. Of the small businesses still operating, the survey shows 43 per cent estimate they can only survive for a maximum of three more months under current restrictions. More than half report revenues have plunged 75 per cent or more and almost eight

Premier John Horgan has announced a new framework to improve health care and respond to the COVID-19 crisis in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. It includes the addition of 55 ambulances and more planes and helicopters to transport patients to larger centres and culturally appropriate COVID-19 testing. Horgan says the framework will ensure the communities get access to the care they need to meet their unique needs during the pandemic and into the future. It was developed through a partnership between the First Nations Health Authority, Northern Health and Provincial Health Services Au

B.C. is reporting 52 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday, including five more deaths. This brings the death total to 86 and the total number of cases to 1,699. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the testing strategy is now being expanded to determine how and when some of restrictions can be gradually lifted. However, she says that won't begin until mid-May. Henry also says the province is broadening tests to better track community spread of the virus.