A seventh case of the novel coronavirus has been diagnosed in British Columbia. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a man in his 40s who is a close contact of the sixth case in the province has been diagnosed with COVID-19. The sixth case involves a woman in her 30s whose diagnosis was confirmed last week after returning from Iran. The man had symptoms of the illness before the woman's diagnosis and Henry says officials have been working with the Fraser Health Authority to identify anyone he came into contact with before going into isolation last week. Henry says the man's conditio

Sexual assault charges have been laid against a man employed as a physiotherapist at a Chilliwack health clinic, and police say there may be more victims. Police say 38-year-old Sanjay Amrutkar was arrested without incident for offences alleged to have occurred lasts August and September while he was working as a physiotherapist. He's charged with two counts of sexual assault and has been released from custody pending a court appearance next month. Police say their investigators are aware that there may be other victims who haven't reported an encounter and they encourage those people to c

Premier John Horgan says he believes the ``vast majority'' of residents across northern B.C. want to resolve a dispute with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. Horgan says his government is ready to talk with the chiefs but is challenged by their refusal to meet unless RCMP and pipeline officials withdraw entirely from their traditional territories. The Premier says other Wet'suwet'en people are beginning to speak out about possible benefits of the pipeline. He says his government remains ``at the ready'' to find a way forward.

Almost eight months after a strike halted Western Forest Products operations across Vancouver Island, workers at the Duke Point sawmill near Nanaimo are preparing to head back to the job. The union representing workers at the sawmill confirms employees have been recalled and have been taking part in safety training, prior to startup at the mill -- which is set for Monday. Western Forest Products and the United Steelworkers Union reached a deal earlier this month resolving the job action that began last July 1st. Steelworkers Local president Brian Butler says the company still hasn't announced

Police in Vancouver are investigating after a float plane was badly damaged in what appears to have been a botched theft. Const. Tanya Visintin says officers were called to the city's waterfront about 3:30 a.m. after a report of a plane.She says a man had begun moving the Harbour Air float plane, but crashed it into a second aircraft.Visintin doesn't say if the first plane ever got into the air, but she says its wing was torn off in the collision. No one was injured and no arrests have been made.Visintin says police are looking for a suspect.

Another case of the coronavirus has been diagnosed in British Columbia. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a woman in her 30s has been diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from Iran. Henry says the woman's case is relatively mild and a number of her close contacts have already been put in isolation. This brings the number of cases of COVID-19 in B.C. to six. Henry said earlier this week that four of the five people already diagnosed with the virus were symptom free. The fifth person, a woman in her 30s who returned from Shanghai, China, is in isolation at her home in B.C.'s In

The Independent Investigations Office has cleared officers in the RCMP's University of B.C. detachment of any wrongdoing in the death of a UBC student two weeks ago. The student had been arrested early in the morning on February 5th and was briefly held at the UBC detachment but was released about 2:30 a.m. and taken back to his residence on campus. Just hours later a security guard found the unnamed student dead under the Lions Gate Bridge. The office, which examines all incidents of police involved death or serious injury in B.C., says the student's death was not the result of RCMP action o

A man with mobility challenges has died after being trapped in his burning home in Vancouver. Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says in a statement that the fire broke out Sunday evening in a home on the city's west side. Crews found the 55-year-old victim in the home as they arrived. He had been badly burned and was rushed to hospital but the statement says he did not survive. Investigators say the fire was caused by smoking materials. The man's death marks the first fatal fire in Vancouver in 2020.

B.C.'s medical health officer, Doctor Bonnie Henry, says the first person in the province who developed a case of the new coronavirus after returning from a trip to China earlier this year is now fully recovered and out of isolation. Five cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in this province since the outbreak began late last year in China and Henry says four of the five other sufferers are also likely to be declared free of the disease when tests are expected to come back negative later this week. She says B.C.'s most recent case a woman identified in the Interior Health region on Friday re