Premier John Horgan says economic recovery and health-care reforms are his New Democrat government's priorities for 2021. He says the COVID-19 pandemic has tested him personally as it has the people of British Columbia. Horgan says getting the economy moving next year will be the main goal of the budget in April, despite the recent forecast of a 13.6 billion dollar deficit. There have been almost 900 deaths due to COVID-19 in the province and Horgan says the government is planning health-care reforms that focus on BC's elderly, the hardest hit by the pandemic. The premier says his government

Health officials in British Columbia are cutting off alcohol sales on New Year's Eve in an effort to prevent gatherings where COVID-19 can spread. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says last call for alcohol sales will be at 8 p.m. on New Year's Eve and the ban continues until 9 a.m. the next day. The health order restricts the sale of alcohol at restaurants, pubs and stores. Dr. Henry says the order is an attempt to mitigate "risky behavior" and curb parties from springing up, particularly in resort towns where New Year's Eve celebrations are common. B.C. reported 485 new cases of C

Following a cabinet meeting this morning, the Trudeau government plans to bring in stricter pandemic regulations for airline passengers. Travellers will be required to test negative for COVID-19 three days before landing in Canada. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc didn't say when the requirement will be in place. The announcement comes as Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips and Quebec Liberal MNA Pierre Arcand find themselves in hot water over international travel. Both travelled out of the country on Caribbean vacations despite Canadians being asked to avoid such trips.

Britain has authorized an easy-to-handle coronavirus vaccine and decided to stretch out the time between doses to allow more people to get some level of protection faster as infections surge.The first greenlight Wednesday for the shot dubbed the ``vaccine for the world'' brought a measure of hope that the pandemic could be brought under control.The vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca is expected to be relied on in many countries because of its low cost and the fact that it can be kept in refrigerators rather than at the ultra-cold or freezer temperatures some othe

British Columbia health officials are urging people to avoid gatherings in celebration of New Year's Eve. The request comes as the province released five days of COVID-19 figures over the holiday season, showing 2,206 new cases for a total of 50,815 infections since the pandemic began. The province also reported 74 deaths from the virus, largely among those living in long-term care or assisted-living facilities. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says people need to follow public health orders forbidding social gatherings ahead of New Year's Eve. Dr. Henry says there were lower COVID-

Quebec has become the fourth province to confirm its first case of a more contagious COVID-19 variant. Health Minister Christian Dube says the person who tested positive is a family member of someone who returned from the United Kingdom on Dec. 11. Three other provinces have confirmed cases of the new variant in recent days, with three cases in Ontario, one in Alberta and one in British Columbia. The variant was first identified in the U.K. and has since spread to several other countries. The latest case in Canada comes as Yukon Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost says the terri

Homicide detectives are investigating a fatal shooting in Surrey, B.C., the second deadly attack in the city in as many days.Sgt. Frank Jang with the joint-police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the shooting happened Monday evening in the Guildford neighbourhood.The unnamed victim was found dead at the scene but few other details have been released.The shooting took place as Jang was providing more information about a Sunday night shooting in the Whalley area that killed 19-year-old Harman Singh Dhesi.Jang says Dhesi was known to police and his death and the Guildford-area shootin

More than 15,000 Canadians have now died of COVID-19. The death toll reached 15,001 this morning as Quebec reported another 2,265 infections and 37 deaths. But it is likely higher than that because Ontario did not report its latest numbers today. Quebec has reported 8,060 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The rollout of vaccines is continuing across the country, with doses of the Moderna shots due to be delivered in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunuvut today.

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was detained in May for her live stream reporting from Wuhan over COVID-19, has been sentenced to four years of imprisonment on Monday, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.She has been convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. Dozens of her supporters and diplomats gathered outside Shanghai Pudong New District People's Court on Monday morning before the trial began, according to HKFP. The police, however, pushed journalists and observers away from the entrance. The New York Times re