Here’s the latest news for Surrey, White Rock and beyond for Friday, April 3. This will be updated as information becomes available:
• B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix said this afternoon that COVID-19 has claimed four more lives, bringing the province’s death toll to 35.
• B.C. hospitals have postponed more than 11,000 scheduled surgeries to clear more than a third of acute care hospital beds for potential COVID-19 patients.
• The tulip fields that brighten up the Fraser Valley every spring won’t be open to the public this year.
• As the Surrey school district winds up its first week of the suspension of in-class instruction, it’s the “uncertainty of it all” that is causing concern for some parents and students.
• In a black-and-white ad on the front of the April 2 Peace Arch News, White Rock resident Chad Skelton urges other local residents to purchase space in their community newspaper.
• B.C. doctors are encouraging patients to access virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Add the Boundary Bay Airshow to the list of events cancelled amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• Businesses advised to prepare for federal, B.C. COVID-19 assistance.
• Ferries will stop sailing out of three Vancouver Island terminals for the next two months as B.C. Ferries is making major reductions in sailings on all its routes.
• A resident of Abbotsford’s Worthington Pavilion rehabilitation unit has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
• The City of Surrey has reportedly laid off 1,900 part-time auxiliary workers and 140 full-time employees because of the pandemic.
• The City of White Rock has announced changes to waterfront, hospital and residents’ parking, as part of its response to changing demands during the pandemic.
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will be providing $100 million to food banks across the country as Canadians face widespread layoffs and financial uncertainty.
• A local garbage crew is bringing smiles amid the pandemic.
• How well can cellphones carry COVID-19? Disinfecting may be wise, says microbiology specialist Jason Tetro.
• A South Surrey catering company has joined the list of businesses that are taking steps to help essential-services workers during the pandemic.
• With rugby seasons across the province shelved for the rest of the season due to the pandemic, Bayside Rugby Club director Andy Blackburn hopes to use the break to bring forth positive change.
• Health care workers will now be able to access mobile health services after insurance providers for hundreds of thousands of frontline staff in B.C. made concessions.
• Limited access to contraceptives and services because of COVID-19 is likely to lead to a surge in unintended pregnancies, according to sexual-health advocates.
• Canada Revenue Agency employees will begin Monday the monumental task of delivering federal benefits meant to mitigate the disastrous economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the latest coronavirus and COVID-19 news, visit peacearchnews.com/tag/coronavirus
