British Columbia's health minister says he isn't as worried about the newest COVID-19 variant, Omicron, because the focus needs to stay on the Delta variant, which is having a ``profound impact'' on the province. Adrian Dix says the Delta variant is disproportionately affecting those who haven't been vaccinated, citing more than 150 people, most of them unvaccinated, who have been moved from the Northern Health authority to southern hospitals. He says the transfers are weighing down the health-care system because most of those people are in critical condition and require teams of health-care

The Trans Mountain pipeline has restarted following a three-week precautionary shutdown during a series of storms that battered BC. The federal Crown corporation says the pipeline was safely restarted yesterday after all necessary assessments and repairs were completed. It says some of that work included the construction of ``protective earthworks'' after flooding exposed sections of the pipeline that carries 300,000 barrels per day of petroleum products from Alberta to B.C. Trans Mountain says it's monitoring the pipeline on the ground, by air and through its control centre after the restart

Pakistan's military says one of its helicopters has crashed in bad weather in the Pakistan-administered section of disputed Kashmir, killing the two pilots on board. The military says the helicopter went down on Monday on the Siachen glacier. It's one of the world's longest mountain glaciers, located in the Karakoram Range, and often referred to as the ``highest battleground on earth'' because of the wars that Pakistan and India have fought over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The military says rescue helicopters and troops have been dispatched to Siachen. No further details on the crash wer

One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. Professor Sarah Gilbert says scientific advances made in fighting deadly viruses must not be lost because of the cost of fighting the current pandemic. Gilbert is calling on governments to redouble their commitment to scientific research and pandemic preparedness.

Police in Abbotsford say officers found human remains after responding to reports of a vehicle on fire early yesterday morning. The forensic identification unit was at the scene, but police offered no further details, noting the investigation had just begun. Anyone with information is asked to contact Abbotsford police.

B-C has expanded emergency financial assistance for people affected by extensive flooding and landslides over the last three weeks. The Ministry of Public Safety says the disaster financial assistance program is available to help eligible people recover from the impacts of a series of destructive storms between November 14th and December 2nd. It says eligibility has been expanded to affected residents in the northwest, southwest, central and southeast regions as well as Vancouver Island. Applications will be accepted until March 3rd

The R-C-M-P say a man sustained non-life-threatening injuries in what they believe may have been a targeted shooting in Coquitlam on Saturday. The Mounties say the man's nine-year-old son, who was in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the shooting, was unharmed. They say there's not enough information yet to establish or rule out a link between the shooting and gang conflict in the Lower Mainland, but they don't believe it was a completely random act. A silver sedan was seen leaving the area after the shooting and police are asking anyone who was around Westwood Plateau between 4:2

Snowfall warnings covered Vancouver Island and parts of B-C's south coast overnight, with the potential for wet flurries lasting into this afternoon. Environment Canada says much of the island could see between five and 10 centimetres of snow near the water and up to 20 at higher elevations inland. Between two and 10 centimetres of snow was expected to fall over the Greater Victoria area, Sunshine Coast and the southern Gulf Islands. The same amount was expected across the Lower Mainland, including Howe Sound, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

B.C. is reporting 405 new cases of COVID-19, including five new epi-linked cases, for a total of 219,584 cases in the province.There are currently 3,071 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 214,047 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 276 individuals are currently in hospital and 95 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, six new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,351.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: threeIsland Health: twoVancouver Coastal Health: oneThere is one new h