A regional airline that connects 16 airports around BC, from Cranbrook to Prince George, Massett and Tofino is suspending all operations effective Tuesday because of concern about COVID-19. Pacific Coastal Airlines says the delay until Tuesday gives travellers a chance to get home or make other plans, and the suspension will continue until at least May 3rd, when it will be reassessed, if conditions allow. President Quentin Smith says there was no other choice, given the rapidly deteriorating situation and the need to be socially responsible about halting the spread of the new coronavirus. Pac

Italy has recorded its highest day to day rise in the number of deaths of people infected with the new coronavirus. Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli said Friday the country recorded 627 more deaths in the 24 hours since Italy surpassed China on Thursday as the nation with the most COVID 19 related deaths. The total now stands at 4,032. Authorities said most of the people who died had existing health problems such as heart disease and diabetes before they were infected with the virus. Borrelli says Italy also saw a staggering increase of 5,986 cases from a day earlier, bringing the offic

The federal government is unveiling a plan to have companies quickly produce supplies of needed medical equipment to cope with the rapidly multiplying cases of COVID-19 across Canada.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the plan will provide support to manufacturers that want to retool their assembly lines to build ventilators, masks and other personal protective gear.And it will also help those already producing the products to quickly scale up.Ottawa has been working in close collaboration with provinces and territories, who deliver health care, to determine where gaps exist in the system and

Sobeys grocery stores are taking further steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among customers and staff.The company began installing Plexiglas shields for cashiers in select stores last night and plan to have them in every store as quickly as possible.Sobeys is also mandating that employees wash their hands every 15 minutes and will reduce store hours to allow more time for sanitizing.

A union official says Air Canada is laying off more than 5,000 flight attendants as the country's largest airline cuts routes and parks planes due to COVID-19.Wesley Lesosky, who heads the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), says Air Canada is laying off 3,600 mainline flight attendants as well as all of Air Canada Rouge's 1,549 flight attendants.The layoffs are set to take effect by next month.Air Canada announced Wednesday it will suspend the majority of its international and American flights by the end of the month.Its stock has plummeted 76 per cent in t

After the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of Nirbhaya gang-rape case convict Pawan Gupta against the rejection of his mercy plea by the President and seeking stay on execution, the victim's mother Asha Devi on Friday said that "the nation has got justice". "I am feeling satisfied today because finally our daughter has got justice. The whole country was ashamed of this crime. Today the nation has got justice," Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother said while speaking to reporters. She thanked the court for rejecting the "delaying tactics". "The country's daughters have got justice. Those people wh

It's about way more than flattening the curve. That from the nation's top physician, who wants Canadians to harden their resolve and make every effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Theresa Tam says the case count is expected to continue to rise and efforts at social distancing need to continue. The effort is underway to make sure there isn't a sudden sharp increase in the number of cases, so the spread of the virus is slowed over time. Public health experts call it ''flattening the curve.'' Tam is calling for Canadians to not just flatten the curve but her words ''plank it.''

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is self-isolating as he awaits the results of a test for COVID-19. Champagne says he was experiencing flu like symptoms following a trip. He says he's being tested ''out of an abundance of caution'' and is in self-isolation at home.

British Columbia has recorded an eighth death from COVID-19 as the number of infections climbs to 271 cases. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the latest death is a man who was a resident of the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, where six others have died. The province also announced 40 new cases today. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the majority of cases are in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions. She says precautions everyone must take to protect each other are ``not optional'' but that maintaining social distance must come with keeping a social connecti