A third-party report examining how the British Columbia government responded to COVID-19 in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic reveals confusion over policies and infection prevention. The report, by Ernst & Young, says specific policy orders from the provincial health officer were interpreted differently by health authorities and there were gaps in infection prevention and control as well as emergency preparedness. It also highlighted a lack of consistent provincial policy on how health authorities and facility operators handled residents who tested positive for C

The BC Liberal party and BC Care Providers Association want to know why the provincial government stalled the release of a report examining how BC's long-term care homes handled the first wave of the pandemic. The Ministry of Health says the report, completed last fall, will be released today. More than 40 groups, including the Care Providers Association, were consulted after Ernst & Young was commissioned by the ministry to conduct the study. More than half of BC's deaths from COVID-19 have been in long-term care facilities. A spokesperson for SafeCare BC, says seeing the report earlier

Dentists and bus drivers are among those disappointed they will not be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine in BC. The province had initially considered prioritizing essential workers, but on Friday said it planned to take an age-based approach instead because older people are more likely to die of COVID-19. The British Columbia Dental Association has written a letter to Premier John Horgan urging him to include dentists in stage two of the vaccination plan along with family doctors and specialists. Unifor Local 111, which represents Metro Vancouver bus drivers, is also demanding that its mem

The BC Centre for Disease Control has added eight flights that passed through Vancouver International Airport to its list of COVID-19 exposures. The flights, four of them domestic and the other four international, either took off from or landed at YVR between January 5th and January 19th. They include an Air Canada flight from Los Angeles to Vancouver on January 5th, a WestJet flight from Toronto to Vancouver on January 9th and an Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to Vancouver on January 17th. The full list can be seen on the B-C Centre for Disease Control website. Anyone who was on any of t

B.C. is reporting 508 new cases of COVID-19, pushing active infections to 4,479. Nine more people have died due to the illness, bringing the death toll in the province to 1,128. There have been 110,566 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in B.C., including 2,202 second doses. The province is reporting new outbreaks at two hospitals, one in Kamloops and the other in New Westminster, as well as at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement the risk from the virus in B.C. remains high a

The BC government has created three post-COVID recovery clinics for patients enduring long-term effects from the novel coronavirus. The clinics, at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital and at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey, will offer interdisciplinary care from a range of health experts. A statement from the province says the three clinics will also help specialists gain a better understanding of the long-term adverse effects of COVID-19. Doctors at St. Paul's say they have already seen more than 160 post-COVID patients reporting some long time sympt

Vancouver is opening more indoor spaces to ensure people without homes have shelter as the first snowy, cold snap of the season looms. The city says warming centres will be open at three locations, the Powell Street Getaway, Vancouver Aquatic Centre and Creekside Community Centre, starting today and continuing until next Wednesday. The statement says the centres are activated as a life-saving measure for people sleeping outside during the winter months. Vancouver also says it has more than 100 vehicles, three-thousand tonnes of salt and hundreds of staff ready for deployment to keep city stre

RCMP are investigating a possible mobile drug lab. It was found this week in a motel parking lot in Cache Creek. Corporal Jesse O'Donaghey says a rented moving van was found abandoned at the motel.Although he did not give an exact location. He says the van was impounded on Tuesday, and police found items inside that were likely used to produce illicit drugs. O'Donaghey says federal drug-lab teams have been called in from Surrey, and says HAZMAT teams are investigating the van as well.

Police say a search is underway for a man who is believed to be a risk to the public and allegedly cut off his ankle monitoring bracelet while in Richmond, B.C. A statement from Richmond RCMP says the monitoring bracelet worn by 57 year old Woon Chan went off-line Thursday. He was being monitored by BC Corrections staff who contacted Mounties when the signal was lost. Police say officers "flooded" an area near Minoru Park and located the ankle bracelet but no trace of Chan. The RCMP statement does not say why the 5-foot-6, 130 pound man is considered a risk. It says Chan was last seen wearing