Two more units have been added to a COVID-19 outbreak declared at Vancouver General Hospital.A statement from Vancouver Coastal Health says outbreaks are underway on inpatient units T-14-G and T-11-G in the highrise tower of the hospital's Jim Pattison Pavilion.The health authority says the outbreaks are in addition to one declared Sunday in unit T-10-C in the same tower.The statement says, in total, 16 patients and 13 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.Visits to all three units have been suspended, except for end-of-life compassionate visits, and the hospital says infection prev

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday criticised the Centre over the farmers' protest and said that this is a practice of black laws."This is the practice of black laws sir. They talk about giving food in prison #FarmersProtest #FarmLaws," the Congress leader tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi).Earlier, on Monday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the three new farm laws passed by the Central government are designed to destroy the agriculture business and hand it over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "friends".Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the n

British Columbia is expected to start informing people over age 80 about their vaccinations for COVID-19 starting next week as the province prepares to open mass clinics while doing more in-depth testing for variants. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. is in a phase of "vaccine hope and pandemic reality" but an age-based immunization plan will remain in place despite some calls to prioritize essential workers. Dr. Henry says the province is expanding its pool of immunizers to include dentists, midwives and paramedics before 172 sites open up to eventually offer a vaccine to

Canada and Australia are banding together to ensure the revenues of web giants are shared more fairly with creators and media. A statement from Ottawa says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have agreed to continue "co-ordinating efforts" to address online harm and ensure social media companies pay for journalism. The statement says the two leaders spoke Monday on a range of topics including the growing co-operation between Canada and Australia on the regulation of online platforms. The increasing alliance between the two countries on legislating interne

Teachers marched today outside an elementary school in Surrey, B.C., where a confirmed case of a COVID-19 variant has been reported to demand more safety measures. Members of the Surrey Teachers Association dressed in red and also marched with their colleagues outside Woodward Hill Elementary in a physically distanced protest before classes began. Matt Westphal, the president of the Surrey Teachers Association, says the biggest concern is that students in elementary schools are not required to wear masks inside their classrooms. Earlier this month, the province changed safety protocols to requ

The only Indigenous councillor ever elected to Terrace council says systemic racism has forced her to resign. Jessica McCallum-Miller, who is also the youngest person ever elected to council in that northwestern BC city, made the comment in a social media post announcing her departure. McCallum-Miller was just 25 when she won a council seat in 2018 and says, since then, she has felt "unheard or unsupported" due to her ethnicity, age and gender. Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc says council has become "better" for McCallum-Miller's "honesty, dedication and thoughtfulness," and more details will be

British Columbia will permanently allow restaurants, bars and tourism operators to buy liquor at wholesale prices, a move that industry hopes will help revive the struggling sector. The provincial government made temporary changes last June to allow the hospitality industry to buy alcohol at the same cost as liquor stores and it has now made that decision permanent. Previously, restaurants, pubs and tourism businesses with liquor licences paid full retail price, the wholesale price, plus a markup set by the government on most alcohol purchases. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says in a news

Golf star Tiger Woods suffered leg injuries today in a vehicle rollover in suburban Los Angeles and was undergoing surgery. Authorities and his manager say his condition wasn't yet clear. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says in a statement that Woods was alone in the vehicle and had to be extricated from it. No other cars were involved in the wreck that injured the golfer. The vehicle sustained major damage, and Woods was taken to the hospital by ambulance. A KABC-TV helicopter over the wreck showed a car on its side, with its front end heavily damaged just off the side of a road

This week Canada is receiving its biggest combined shipment yet of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says most of the 643,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses arriving in the country this week have already been delivered. Anita Anand gave an update this afternoon.Anand says vaccine deliveries are starting to ramp up significantly, with 3.5 million doses expected to arrive in March. Dr. Tam is hopeful, relaxations will come soon in most invasive public health measures Canada's chief public health officer Doctor Theresa Tam says she is hopeful provinces and terri