Here’s the latest news for Surrey, White Rock and beyond for Thursday, April 9. This will be updated as new information becomes available.
• Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announces B.C.’s death toll from COVID-19 reaches 50; issues order that health-care workers work only at a single long-term or assisted-living site.
• Metro Vancouver has closed Boundary Bay and Deas Island regional parks for the Easter long weekend.
• The cities of White Rock and Surrey have both had to lay off employees as a result of COVID-19’s impact on the community.
• Fraser Health doctors have penned a letter of support for provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Dr. Victoria Lee, president and chief executive officer of Fraser Health Authority.
• The B.C. and Alberta health ministers are both urging people to stay home during the Easter holiday weekend due to the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Researchers from across Canada will collaborate on a vast clinical trial to study whether the plasma of recovered patients can be used to treat COVID-19.
• An inmate at Abbotsford’s Pacific Regional Treatment Centre has a confirmed case of COVID-19 – the third prison in B.C. to have an infection within a week.
• Maple Ridge soccer star Karina LeBlanc announced on Sunday that she has been possibly been exposed to COVID-19 after a stay in hospital where she learned she is suffering from heart failure.
• The B.C. government’s temporary rent supplement for people who have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic has begun taking applications, offering $300 per month for eligible people with no dependents and $500 for those with dependents.
• The province has unveiled $5 million in funding to expand virtual mental health supports for those struggling through the uncertainty and stress of the ongoing pandemic.
• People worried they received extra Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) money in their bank accounts Wednesday morning can breathe a sigh of relief, according to Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough’s office.
• An Abbotsford singer’s tribute to frontline workers is gaining attention on social media.
• The provincial government is encouraging B.C. companies to help connect front-line health care workers with needed medical supplies using the province’s new online COVID-19 Supply Hub.
• Members of B.C. First Nations can now access virtual primary health care thanks to a new program set up by the First Nations Health Authority and the Rural Coordination Centre of B.C.
• The latest federal employment figures show 132,000 jobs lost in B.C. in March, but the actual impact of COVID-19 on the economy is much worse than that, Finance Minister Carole James says.
• A Statistics Canada report assessing health and social challenges associated with COVID-19 in Canada supports concerns that living in forced close quarters could increase instances of domestic violence.
• Normal life won’t return to Canada until a vaccine is developed, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his daily update from Ottawa Thursday.
• British Columbia’s former provincial health officer says he has “grave concerns” about reduced services because of COVID-19 for people struggling with drug addiction.
• With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.
• The Semiahmoo First Nation has announced parking-lot and beach-access closures.
• A South Surrey yoga teacher is offering free online classes to help those feeling a need for connection and healing during the pandemic.
• B.C. has received many offers for sale or donation of medical equipment for managing the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and the equipment is proving useful, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.
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