Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, is aligning the Emergency Program Act (EPA) order on face coverings with the provincial health officer’s (PHO) recently updated guidance on mask use in fitness facilities. As outlined in the PHO’s indoor individual exercise document, masks are now required to be worn at all times in fitness facilities, including during workouts. The change to the EPA order allows police and other officials to enforce this new guidance at their discretion.This updated ministerial order on masks ensures a co-ordinated response to COVID-19. For

Victoria police are looking for the Good Samaritan who was attacked while trying to help a youth in the city's downtown area. Police say it happened last Monday night when the teen was assaulted by two other people. Officers were called to reports of four people fighting and arrived to find only the youth, who was taken to hospital for treatment, but a check of surveillance videos shows the fourth person was a bystander who stepped in to help the young victim. The Good Samaritan was kicked, punched and hit with a skateboard and police are appealing for any witnesses to the assault as they exp

Canada is calling for a ceasefire in the more than week-old flare-up of violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the violence needs to stop. Trudeau says Canada will work with the international community to de-escalate the situation so there is no more loss of civilian life. At least 212 Palestinians have died and 10 people in Israel have been killed since both sides renewed attacks eight days ago. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support for a ceasefire during a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday.

In response to concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of British Columbians, the BC Coroners Service has released preliminary data confirming there has been no increase in the number of lives lost to suicide sincethe pandemic was declared last year. From April 2020 to February 2021, there were 534 confirmed deaths by suicide in the province, 12% fewer than reported between April 2019 and February 2020. A total of 609 deaths by suicide were reported in the 2020 calendar year, an average of approximately 51 per month. That figure is consistent with the number rec

Canada's chief public health officer says COVID-19 disease activity continues to decline but there are areas of the country experiencing very high infection rates. Dr. Theresa Tam says over the past seven days, an average of 5,700 cases were reported daily and 3,600 people were treated in hospital each day, including over 1,300 in intensive care. She says there were an average of 43 deaths reported daily. But nevertheless, she says Canada is making steady progress with a 25 per cent decrease in reported active cases since the peak of the third wave in April. Canada crosses grim milestone on 2

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is receiving 4.5 million vaccine doses this week, including a shipment from Pfizer-BioNTech that has been moved up ahead of the holiday weekend. He says it is the largest weekly shipment to date, and it will help keep Canada within the top of the G20 on daily vaccinations, where he says it has been for over two weeks. Trudeau also says Canada will receive 9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in July. That means that between now and at least the end of July, Canada will continue to get over two million Pfizer doses a week. Prime Minister Just

A former British Columbia government cabinet minister who left politics almost a decade ago to work in the private sector says he's entering the Liberal party's leadership contest.Kevin Falcon announced his leadership bid Monday, saying he wants to rebuild, renew and rename B.C.'s Liberal Party, which has lost its way since the 2017 election.Falcon is the third candidate to enter the Feb. 5, 2022 leadership race, joining Ellis Ross, the Liberal member of the legislature for Skeena, and Gavin Dew, a Vancouver entrepreneur and former Liberal byelection candidate. Liberal transportation critic M

Amid concerns of a third wave of COVID-19 in the country, which according to many heath experts is likely to target children, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said a new COVID variant detected in Singapore is said to be deadly for children and may bring in third wave in the country.In this regard, the Delhi Chief Minister has requested the Central government to immediately suspend air services with Singapore and to work out vaccination options for children on priority.In a tweet today, Kejriwal said, "The new COVID variant in Singapore is being said to be extremely dangerous for

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with doctors from across the country to take stock of COVID-19. Discussion regarding their learning and suggestions were held to tackle COVID wave. India today reported over 2.81 lakh new cases.