British Columbia health officials say progress is being made in the efforts to push back the COVID-19 virus and get to the days of fewer restrictions in the province. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement Tuesday that there are 435 new cases of the virus, for a total of 4,393 active cases. Some 241 people are in hospital, of whom 68 are in intensive care, and the remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. There have been four new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,263 fatalities linked to the viru

British Columbia's auditor general says the Provincial Health Services Authority is not effectively managing cybersecurity threats for medical devices and has not evaluated the risk to patients.Michael Pickup says ineffective cybersecurity management means the authority can't apply proper security controls to its systems and devices, and may not be able to detect cyberattacks.The audit covered more 18,000 devices in the Lower Mainland, ranging from infusion pumps to MRI systems, and the systems supporting their operation.He recommends the authority evaluate cybersecurity threats and the potent

A new program aimed at training workers to speak up against harassment, violence and bullying is coming to BC's waterfront. The federal government, longshore unions and management announced the program today, which is based on the 'Be More Than a Bystander' campaign developed by the Ending Violence Association of BC. Association spokeswoman Tracy Porteous says working with longshore unions may seem like an odd fit but it will add the "voices and committed interventions of men" to those of women and minorities who have long been calling for an end to abuse and inequity. Rob Ashton with the lon

Surrey Mounties and a COVID compliance team used a search warrant to break up an illegal after-hours nightclub in the city. RCMP say when officers and the enforcement team went in around 1 am on Sunday they found 22 people inside. Police say 26 tickets worth almost six-thousand dollars in fines were handed out for everything from failure to wear a mask to attending a non-compliant event and belligerent behaviour. The host of the event was not issued the usual $2,300 ticket but instead received a notice to appear in court. Surrey Mounties say the nightclub operating near King George Boulevard

The country's top doctor says the daily rate of COVID-19 cases across the country is down to an average of 3,500. Doctor Theresa Tam says that's less than half the number reported in early January. But while declining case counts, hospitalizations and deaths are reassuring, she says we must continue to be cautious.Doctor Tam says while it's normal for variants to emerge as viruses continuously evolve, these are a concern because they are known to spread more easily and there's the possibility that current vaccines won't offer protection. Tam says with 355 cases of the UK variant, 25 of the Sou

Canadians who show up at the land border without a COVID-19 test result in hand will still be allowed in the country. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada can't stop its citizens or permanent residents from coming into the country via car. But he says the negative tests required at the land border as of next Monday will be mandatory. He says fines of up to $3,000 could be put in place for those who don't have the test. Most non-essential travellers coming back to Canada do have to quarantine for 14 days. Relaxed approach to pay interest on 2020 tax debt until next yearOttawa is tweaking

Researchers at BC Children's Hospital are trying to better understand the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on children and their families by asking them to complete an online survey. Doctors S. Evelyn Stewart and Hasina Samji are leading the study that aims to gauge how the pandemic affects people's feelings and actions over time in order to learn how they manage and which resources may be helpful. Stewart says the research would provide evidence to guide clinical and policy decisions during this pandemic and those in the future. Children and youth over the age of seven are invited to fill i

BC's top doctor is appealing for continued vigilance with COVID-19 public health orders as officials try to understand the prevalence of the UK and South African variants and how they entered communities. Doctor Bonnie Henry says that's part of the work being done before pandemic restrictions that have been in place since November are loosened as the province anticipates an increasing number of vaccines to be delivered in the coming weeks. Dr. Henry says that if the variants take hold as in parts of Ontario, a whole new pandemic could get underway so it's important not to undo the progress th

Health Canada regulators agree with Pfizer and BioNTech that you can regularly get six doses out of each vial of their COVID-19 vaccine.Health Canada's chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma says Canada is amending the label on the vials in Canada, which previously indicated the vials contained five doses.Now it will say there are six.The change won't affect how many doses Canada gets as Pfizer already began allocating vials for Canada's shipments based on each containing six rather than five.Canada's contract with Pfizer and BioNTech is to buy 40 million doses this year, with four million