Coronavirus

The B.C. government has reported 405 new cases of COVID-19 in its Dec. 3 update. Pictured here, a traveller exiting the COVID-19 testing centre for arriving international passengers at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 2. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

B.C. reports 405 new cases of COVID-19

Six new deaths from COVID-19, says ministry

The B.C. government has reported 405 new cases of COVID-19 in its Dec. 3 update. Pictured here, a traveller exiting the COVID-19 testing centre for arriving international passengers at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Dec. 2. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Passengers make their way through Montreal-Trudeau airport in Montreal, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Disease specialist says COVID-19 testing better than travel ban ‘whack-a-mole’

‘Look, I don’t think we’re going to be able to shut our border to this variant’

Passengers make their way through Montreal-Trudeau airport in Montreal, on Wednesday, December 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. Tassi says Canada has signed agreements to buy up 1.5 million courses of oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Canada buying up to 1.5 million courses of oral antiviral drugs to fight COVID-19

Some hail antiviral drugs as a game-changer since they are designed to block viral replication

Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi rises during Question Period, in Ottawa, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. Tassi says Canada has signed agreements to buy up 1.5 million courses of oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
B.C.’s ambulance service has been stretched thin with COVID-19 and many calls to deal with drug overdoses, on top of the demands of an aging population. (Black Press Media)

B.C. adds paramedics, dispatchers, increasing treatment options

Firefighters can take blood pressure, prepare for transport

B.C.’s ambulance service has been stretched thin with COVID-19 and many calls to deal with drug overdoses, on top of the demands of an aging population. (Black Press Media)
Several factors are responsible for empty shelves at grocery stores, including supply chains severed by recent flooding and slides and COVID, and labour issues. (Black Press Media)

LETTER: Maple Ridge letter writer voices support for beleaguered grocery store workers

Front-line workers have no say say in supply chain problems so be kind, local resident urges

  • Dec 3, 2021
Several factors are responsible for empty shelves at grocery stores, including supply chains severed by recent flooding and slides and COVID, and labour issues. (Black Press Media)
A registered pharmacist technician carefully fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The National Advisory Committee on Immunizations is set to release new guidance this morning on the use of COVID-19 vaccine boosters as public health faces down the threat of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Canada’s vaccine advisory panel strongly recommends boosters for those 50 and up

Recommendations come after urgent federal request tied to fighting the new Omicron variant

A registered pharmacist technician carefully fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The National Advisory Committee on Immunizations is set to release new guidance this morning on the use of COVID-19 vaccine boosters as public health faces down the threat of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Anthony Rota is escorted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Erin O’Toole to the Speakers chair after being elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons Monday, November 22, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Board exceeded its authority in imposing vaccine mandate for Commons: Speaker

Anthony Rota says only the House itself can make a decision to restrict access

Anthony Rota is escorted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Erin O’Toole to the Speakers chair after being elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons Monday, November 22, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A traveller carrying luggage into the Edmonton International Airport on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. Confusion has been growing at some Canadian airports that say they want more direction from the federal government since it changed COVID-19 testing rules for travellers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Confusion at Canadian airports: Few details on COVID-19 testing rules for travellers

Few details on when testing sparked by Omicron variant will start

A traveller carrying luggage into the Edmonton International Airport on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. Confusion has been growing at some Canadian airports that say they want more direction from the federal government since it changed COVID-19 testing rules for travellers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Floor markers at Island Health COVID-19 testing clinic in Nanaimo. (Nanaimo News Bulletin)

B.C. COVID-19 infection rate holds steady, 368 for Thursday

Hospitalization declining, 5 more deaths recorded

Floor markers at Island Health COVID-19 testing clinic in Nanaimo. (Nanaimo News Bulletin)
Crews work on Coldwater Road, south of Merritt and parallel to the closed Coquihalla, on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)

B.C. officials urge drivers to avoid travel, conserve gas even as 3rd storm passes

Although the sun is shining and the rain has stopped falling across…

Crews work on Coldwater Road, south of Merritt and parallel to the closed Coquihalla, on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
An ambulance paramedic in full protective gear works outside Lion’s Gate Hospital, March 23, 2020. Lion’s Gate Hospital and Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver were the first sites of major COVID-19 outbreaks in B.C. (The Canadian Press)

COVID-19 outbreaks in steep decline at B.C. hospitals, care homes

Mandatory vaccination for health staff, visitors paying off

An ambulance paramedic in full protective gear works outside Lion’s Gate Hospital, March 23, 2020. Lion’s Gate Hospital and Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver were the first sites of major COVID-19 outbreaks in B.C. (The Canadian Press)
UBC research has yielded results suggesting waiting longer between COVID-19 vaccinations leads to better immunity. Pictured here vaccinations in Montreal in March. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)

Longer intervals between COVID-19 shots can increase immunity, Canadian study suggests

Peer-reviewed study used blood tests from paramedics

UBC research has yielded results suggesting waiting longer between COVID-19 vaccinations leads to better immunity. Pictured here vaccinations in Montreal in March. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
Pitt Meadows secondary was added to the long list of schools in School District 42 with exposure events. (The News files)

Long list of schools in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows with COVID cases

Fraser Health registering school-aged children for vaccination

Pitt Meadows secondary was added to the long list of schools in School District 42 with exposure events. (The News files)
Kids aged 5 to 11 are getting COVID-19 vaccines at community clinics around B.C., like this one in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. counts 375 more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, 7 more deaths

Serious illness cases in hospital remain steady

Kids aged 5 to 11 are getting COVID-19 vaccines at community clinics around B.C., like this one in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
Megan Tanya Hodgkinson poses in this undated handout photo. Canadians trying to come home from South Africa say they’re frustrated by a lack of communication from the federal government and by testing requirements that make some trips impossible. She was visiting relatives in South Africa when the Canadian government put new travel restrictions in place on several African countries last week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO — Megan Tanya Hodgkinson

Canadians in South Africa face cancelled flights, uncertainty as they try to return

South Africa is one of 10 countries targeted in Canada’s new travel restrictions

Megan Tanya Hodgkinson poses in this undated handout photo. Canadians trying to come home from South Africa say they’re frustrated by a lack of communication from the federal government and by testing requirements that make some trips impossible. She was visiting relatives in South Africa when the Canadian government put new travel restrictions in place on several African countries last week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO — Megan Tanya Hodgkinson
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry meets with some of the first children to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a clinic in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. calls on retired medical staff to help with COVID-19 vaccinations

Booster doses for adults ramping up as 350,000 children eligible

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry meets with some of the first children to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a clinic in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
Alberta chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, provides a COVID-19 update in Edmonton on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Alberta confirms its first case of Omicron COVID-19 variant in a traveller

Asymptomatic individual has not left quarantine since their arrival from international travel

Alberta chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, provides a COVID-19 update in Edmonton on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Daily new cases of COVID-19 reported to B.C. public health, to Nov. 28, 2021. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control)

B.C. sees 358 more COVID-19 cases Tuesday, 300 in hospital

No deaths or health care outbreaks in past 24 hours

Daily new cases of COVID-19 reported to B.C. public health, to Nov. 28, 2021. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control)
A man walks through a deserted part of Johannesburg’s OR Tambo’s airport, South Africa, Monday Nov. 29, 2021. The World Health Organisation urged countries around the world not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concern over the new omicron variant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Jerome Delay

What we know so far about COVID-19’s Omicron variant, as it arrives in Canada

Right now there remains many questions to be answered about latest virus strain

A man walks through a deserted part of Johannesburg’s OR Tambo’s airport, South Africa, Monday Nov. 29, 2021. The World Health Organisation urged countries around the world not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concern over the new omicron variant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Jerome Delay
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix update B.C.’s COVID-19 situation from the Vancouver cabinet offices, Sept. 17, 2020. (B.C. government)

COVID gathering rules eased for Interior Health as north gets further restrictions

Restaurants returning to 100% capacity with vaccine card in IH, bars close in NH

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix update B.C.’s COVID-19 situation from the Vancouver cabinet offices, Sept. 17, 2020. (B.C. government)