A high volume of online applications for the British Columbia COVID-19 recovery benefit has slowed the process. Some users have reported getting an error on the site when making their application for the benefit of up to $1,000. A Finance Ministry spokeswoman says there were about 2,500 applications in the first few minutes of the site opening on Friday, but the page hasn't crashed and those applying are being urged to be patient. Finance Minister Selina Robinson has asked the public to be respectful to staff at a Service BC call centre as they help people apply for the benefit, which was pro

The RCMP has set up a dedicated witness phone line and email after concluding a fire at Burnaby Hospital last month was set on purpose. Fraser Health has said the November 15th fire contributed to COVID-19 outbreak declared at the hospital one week earlier. It says patients had to be moved for their immediate safety and at least 10 people died from COVID-19 during the outbreak. The hospital's emergency department was temporarily closed and some medical appointments and surgeries were rescheduled. Fraser Health said the fire started in one wing and affected several other parts of the building

British Columbia's top doctor is advising people with chronic health conditions to contact their family doctor to determine if they should get vaccinated for COVID-19. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was tested primarily on healthy people of varying ages and it's not known if it will work or is safe for those with chronic liver or kidney diseases, for example. Clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be the next one to be approved in Canada, also excluded people who are immunocompromised. Dr. Henry says 1,215 health-care workers have been vaccinated so fa

Finance Minister Selina Robinson says the province is showing signs of rebuilding its economy despite the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Robinson's latest economic update forecasts three per cent economic growth next year and says employment is steady. But she says 2020 was one of the most difficult years in the province's history and the economy is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until late 2022 or early 2023. She also reported that the projected deficit for this fiscal year has risen to 13.6 billion dollars from the 12.8 billion predicted in September. The Provi

BC's police complaints commissioner says it will launch a disciplinary-conduct investigation into the actions of seven Vancouver officers who took part in the arrest of a Sechelt man in August 2015. The BC Prosecution Service has said the injuries suffered by 33 year old Myles Gray during his arrest included a broken eye socket, a possible partially dislocated jaw and a voice box fracture. Gray died after going into cardiac arrest while he was being restrained. The prosecution service said none of the officers involved would be charged because the accusations couldn't be proven beyond a reaso

BC's government has set a new target for cutting greenhouse gases by 2025. Target has been set after determining it was further from reaching its goals than previously forecasted. The new target requires greenhouse gases in BC to fall 16 per cent below 2007 levels within the next five years. A government report says emissions rose in 2018 due to increases in fuel consumed in heavy-duty diesel vehicles, among other things. Environment Minister George Heyman says completing a plan to reach the legislated targets has been more challenging than anticipated.

The RCMP say they've launched a criminal investigation into the fatal CP train derailment near the BC-Alberta boundary in February 2019. A train carrying more than 100 grain cars was parked on a grade near Field before it started moving on its own, gaining speeds far above the limit. Sergeant Janelle Shoihet says the investigation comes after a preliminary review of the incident that killed three rail company employees. She says police consulted with the Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada and the BC Prosecution Service and determined further investigation was warranted. She would n

A mother who gave birth while in a coma due to complications from COVID-19 is awake and has met her newborn son for the first time. Name of the woman is Gillian McIntosh. Gillian was given an emergency C-section and placed in an induced coma after arriving at a hospital in Abbotsford, B.C., with COVID-19 symptoms in November. McIntosh's family says in a statement that she was eased out of sedation late last week and has been taken off the ventilator. She was able to meet her son, named Travis Len, for the first time over the weekend.

B.C. reported 640 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, for a total of 44,103 since the pandemic began. Another 24 people have died, bringing the death toll to 692. The number of people who have died in B.C. because of COVID-19 has more than doubled in less than a month. The province says 362 people are hospitalized, while 91 of those are in intensive care. One new health-care facility outbreak has been declared at Sunrise of Vancouver. Among new cases 98 new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 399 new cases in the Fraser Health region.