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

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

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

BC will start a clinical trial on a COVID-19 drug therapy approved by Health Canada on an emergency basis for patients who are at risk of severe illness. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the trial on the drug bamlanivimab is expected to get underway by the beginning of March. The antibody drug has been studied elsewhere, and Henry says it would be given to patients within a certain time period after diagnosis. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the trial will be done at Surrey Memorial Hospital with the help of a one-million-dollar donation from a BC biotech company. The drug has

Canada's COVID-19 vaccine drought could be coming to an end.The Public Health Agency of Canada says Ottawa plans to distribute more than 70,000 Pfizer-BiotNTech vaccine doses this week ahead of a major ramp-up, but no Moderna doses are on the schedule.Starting today, 70,200 Pfizer doses are expected to be delivered.Next week, officials are expecting shipments of about 3,35000 doses, which would be the single biggest vaccine delivery to Canada so far.Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines are the only two to be approved by Health Canada, though the department is reviewing others from AstraZeneca, Novava

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia."Today, we are reporting 471 new cases, including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 69,716 cases in British Columbia."There are 4,423 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. There are 253 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 70 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation."Currently, 6,886 people are under active public health monito

BC's top doctor says current provincewide health orders on gatherings will remain in place until at least the end of the month. Dr. Bonnie Henry says just one super-spreader event or a slight increase in contacts could counteract all progress made so far to slow the spread of COVID-19, especially as two variants of the virus have been identified here. She says restrictions must stay so there's a smooth finish as more vaccines are available. Dr. Henry says an easing of restrictions could be considered by the end of February, to allow people to spend time with their safe six. Health Minister Ad

Statistics Canada says the economy lost almost 213,000 jobs in January as employment fell to the lowest level since August last year, wiping out the gains made in the fall.The unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, the highest rate since August. Financial data firm Refinitiv says the average economist estimate was for a loss of 47,500 jobs in January and an unemployment rate of 8.9 per cent.The losses were almost entirely concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, and mostly in the retail sector as lockdowns and restrictions closed many businesses.Employment declines were heav

The COVID-19 curve is slowly bending downward in British Columbia but health officials are urging caution for those making weekend plans given the presence of new variants. The province confirmed 465 new cases Thursday for a total of 69,245 since the pandemic began. There are 4,447 active cases and of those, 257 people are hospitalized including 76 in intensive care. Six more people have died for a total death toll of 1,240 in B.C., while about 62,078 people who tested positive are considered recovered. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say in a joint s