Here’s the latest on the pandemic in Surrey, White Rock and beyond for Wednesday, July 8:
• Nearly two million Canadians could be without jobs this year under forecasts released by the federal government in its long-awaited “fiscal snapshot.”
• Localized hotspots and COVID-19 outbreaks in a few areas across Canada have increased the rate of transmission for the novel coronavirus, the country’s deputy chief public health officer said in a briefing in Ottawa on Wednesday (July 8).
• As the Canadian economy reopens amid COVID-19, mothers are much less likely to be back at work than fathers — a gender gap that has been widening since the pandemic began, new University of B.C. study has found.
• Nearly 11 million Canadians have received financial support via two COVID-19 benefit programs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a Wednesday (July 8) press briefing on Parliament Hill.
• Health officials are warning about a second possible COVID-19 exposure event at a Vancouver strip club.
• A White Rock woman has concerns about the condition of a property she owns in Birch Bay, Wash., now that it has been several months since she’s been able to cross the U.S. border.
• An employee at the Cloverdale McDonald’s on Highway 10 has tested positive for COVID-19.
• The province recorded 12 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths on Tuesday (July 7).
• Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister were spotted Tuesday in a Toronto airport lounge not wearing mandatory masks to curb COVID-19.
• A Southridge School student and a group of her classmates raised more than $5,000 for frontline health-care workers this spring, with the money helping fund a meal program at Peace Arch Hospital.
• Already popular with students to get loans, the B.C. Services Card mobile app is being promoted as a way for more people to get access to B.C. government services without visiting an office to verify their identity.
• A poll released Tuesday (July 7) by Research Co. suggests that 75 per cent of Canadians would take a vaccine once one becomes available.
• Providing almost all Canadians with a basic income for six months beginning this fall could cost about $98 billion, the parliamentary budget officer said in a report on the eve of a preview of how COVID-19 will shape government spending until next spring.
• Society’s approach to condom usage since the 1980s can be applied to face masks today, one expert says.
• After a four-month break, B.C. residents will once again be able to book a road test in July.
tholmes@peacearchnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
