Daily update for Thursday, April 23 on the COVID-19 pandemic in Surrey, White Rock and beyond. It will be updated as information becomes available:
• B.C. recorded 29 new positive tests for the COVID-19 coronavirus April 23, including two employees at a second poultry plant in Coquitlam.
• The White Rock Farmers’ Market is to return to the uptown neighbourhood on Sunday, May 3 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) – with changes prompted by the pandemic, including fewer vendors and a “shop – don’t stop” policy.
• Deltassist and North Delta Evangelical Free Church are asking for the public’s help to establish a “baby depot” to help families who are struggling financially or who may have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The B.C. Utilities Commission has approved the Insurance Corp. of B.C.’s moves to waive fees and allow insurance cancellation for people and businesses stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Hunting has been added to the growing list of essential services able to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Although this year’s Bloom Abbotsford Tulip Festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19, a contest is being held to give one winner – and members of their household – a chance to enjoy the tulips all by themselves.
• Nurses and other health care providers in B.C. can now more easily monitor patients while they recover from COVID-19 at home.
• The application for B.C.’s emergency fund for workers whose ability to work has been affected by COVID-19 will launch next week, on May 1.
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will spend more than $1 billion to help develop, test and manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as to determine how widely the virus has spread through Canada.
• Infectious disease experts say provinces looking to relax restrictions related to COVID-19 need to consider their neighbours.
• Grade 10 Earl Marriott Secondary student Chelsea Granter had a notion about how to fill the hours and days spent at home in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Masks are now required when caring for cats at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove, after a tiger in an American zoo tested positive for COVID-19.
• People who recovered from COVID-19 at a B.C. care home are part of a study to determine a reliable test to see if others may have immunity.
• The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it’s going to fight for citizens nabbed for municipal recreational infractions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Volunteers across Canada are recognized from April 19 to 25, during a time when the COVID-190 pandemic has changed the landscape of volunteering in the country.
tholmes@peacearchnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
