Here’s the latest news for Surrey, White Rock and beyond for Tuesday, March 24. This will be updated as information becomes available:
• Nearly one-third of the total COVID-19 patients in B.C. have recovered, the provincial health officer said Tuesday (March 24).
• The LifeLabs group of medical laboratories has joined B.C. health authority facilities in ramping up testing for the COVID-19 to 3,500 a day as positive tests continued to rise to 617 as of March 24.
• A resident of a White Rock care home is among the newest cases of confirmed COVID-19.
• With more people staying at home to socially distance themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic, one expert is warning others to be internet-smart as the use of computers, tablets and phones increases.
• Campsites, visitor centres, playgrounds, washrooms and day-use facilities are closed as of March 24 in most B.C. provincial parks.
• WestJet became the latest airline to lay off thousands of employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19, B.C. drivers can now renew their licences online and defer payments for up to 90 days.
• Scam artists are busy at work trying to separate folks from their money through new COVID-19 related schemes.
• The Surrey Hospital Foundation has created a COVID-19 Response Fund to help purchase equipment for COVID-19 care as well as health and wellness initiatives for frontline workers.
• The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation shuttered Fraser Downs March 18 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that closure is leaving the horsemen feeling shut out.
• The $1,000 payment for workers affected by COVID-19 won’t come til early May, the B.C. finance ministry confirmed Tuesday.
• With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a strain on travel and tourism, the B.C. Wine Institute says the industry is slowly feeling the strain of the virus outbreak.
• Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says his party will support emergency efforts to get money to Canadians struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, but will oppose any “power grab” by the Liberal government.
• The Self-Advocates of Semiahmoo have produced a series of short public-service announcements to highlight the importance of actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Justin Trudeau says the federal government has no immediate plans to use cellphone data to track people’s movements during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Parks Canada is suspending all vehicle access to national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas at midnight.
• An emergency sitting of the House of Commons was suspended after only a few minutes.
• Canadians could see harsher measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country if they do not follow the guidelines already in place.
• Conservative Finance critic Pierre Poilievre says there’s no deal yet between the Liberal government and Opposition over a proposed emergency aid bill to spend billions of dollars to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and cushion some of its damage to the economy.
• While the COVID-19 guidelines and precautions issued Sunday for the B.C. construction industry are “good advice,” one Fraser Valley company is calling them “too little and too late.”
• In the wake of closing Marine Drive parking lots and the waterfront parkade, White Rock council has taken the further step of closing the city’s iconic pier to the public.
• The City of White Rock has made changes to policy on residential garbage pick-up as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The province has unveiled its plan to support British Columbians.
• The Tokyo Olympics were postponed until 2021 on Tuesday, ending weeks of speculation that the games could not go ahead as scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Anyone who visited Gabby’s Country Cabaret on the nights of Feb. 29 and March 14 may have been exposed to COVID-19, according to a letter issued to the Langley night club by Fraser Health Authority on Saturday.
• B.C. is following the lead of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, changing its employment law to protect people from losing their jobs due to COVID-19 effects.
• British Columbia’s mayors were discouraged from declaring their own states of emergency, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said Monday (March 23).
For the latest coronavirus and COVID-19 news, visit peacearchnews.com/tag/coronavirus
tholmes@peacearchnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
