British Columbia's provincial health officer is warning that COVID-19 cases and test positivity rates are ticking up in some jurisdictions due to increased interactions. Dr. Bonnie Henry says that while the overall number of cases has slowly been coming down across B.C., the seven-day rolling average is starting to creep up. She says this is particularly true in the Fraser Health region, where the viral reproductive rate has risen above one, meaning each infected person is passing the virus on to at least one other person on average. Dr. Henry says that over the past four days, 1,533 new case

Simon Fraser University says a cyberattack on a school server has exposed personal information. The British Columbia university says in a statement that spreadsheet data on the breached server contained personal information for a number of current and former students, faculty, staff and student applicants. The type of personal information stored in the spreadsheets varies by individual. The university says the breach mostly involved student or employee identification numbers and at least one other data element, such as admission or academic standing. It says banking details, social insurance

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he will ask council to implement a handgun ban in the city using powers proposed under newly tabled federal legislation. The proposed legislation would allow municipalities to ban the weapons through bylaws restricting their possession, storage and transportation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the measures will be backed up with serious penalties to enforce these bylaws, including jail time for people who violate municipal rules.Stewart says in a news release that the proliferation of handguns poses a great threat to public safety in Vancouver,

The RCMP says an officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries after his vehicle hit a patch of ice and rolled over in Nanaimo, B.C.Police say in a news release that the Mountie was on his way to assist another officer and had his emergency equipment activated and siren on when the incident occurred Monday. They say he was driving northbound on Highway 19A and his car went off the road after hitting the ice or slush, flipping several times. When his vehicle came to a rest, the Mountie managed to crawl out and request emergency assistance. The RCMP say in the release that a witness report

An Avalanche Canada expert says a recent cold snap followed by snowfall in British Columbia's south coastal region has resulted in unusual and tricky conditions in mountain areas frequented by backcountry enthusiasts.Ilya Storm says last week's cold winds from the north and east, followed by weekend snowfall, has created slabs of snow that are not bonding well with mountain surfaces, especially in the Whistler area.Whistler RCMP reported two deaths and several injuries after skiers and snowboarders were caught in separate avalanches in the Blackcomb Glacier and Brandywine Bowl areas.Last Decem

British Columbia's top doctor says 47 cases of COVID-19 variants have been identified in the province, including one believed to be linked to Nigeria. Dr. Bonnie Henry says 29 cases are related to a variant first identified in the United Kingdom, 17 are associated with South Africa and the latest one involves a person who travelled to Nigeria and returned to the Interior Health region. Dr. Henry says lab teams in B.C. are working with their counterparts across Canada and internationally to get a better understanding of whether the Nigerian variant that has been identified elsewhere is also ea

The British Columbia government has approved single-use plastics bans in four more communities. Surrey, Nanaimo, Rossland and Esquimalt are the latest municipalities to implement bans based on their particular needs. The province approved similar bylaws in Victoria, Richmond, Saanich, Tofino and Ucluelet last September to prevent waste such as shopping bags and takeout containers from ending up in landfills and the ocean. Environment Minister George Heyman says B.C. continues to work on regulations allowing local governments to place bans on single-use plastics without the need for provincial

The Surrey RCMP Robbery Unit is requesting the public’s assistance with identifying three suspects involved in a series of robberies where high-end gaming consoles were stolen, throughout the Lower Mainland, three of which occurred in Surrey. Surrey RCMP officers have been working with other Lower Mainland police agencies and have identified one of the four suspects. However, efforts to identify the remaining three suspects have been unsuccessful. Photos and descriptions are being released and police are asking for the public’s help to identify the men.All three suspects are described as S

Charges were approved Thursday by the BC Prosecution Service against a Vancouver man following a Vancouver Police sexual assault investigation."Thankfully this woman didn’t sustain any physical injuries from the assault and she was able to call police immediately after the incident occurred," says Constable Tania Visintin, VPD. The female victim had a massage booked at a business near West Broadway Avenue and Macdonald Street on February 10. It is alleged the unlicensed male massage practitioner assaulted her while she was laying on the massage table."We hope this result can bring peace to t