Here’s your update on the COVID-19 pandemic in Surrey, White Rock and beyond for Wednesday, April 29:
• B.C. recorded 34 new positive tests for COVID-19 April 29, bringing the provincial total to 2,087.
• Four temporary foreign workers have had to be isolated after testing positive for COVID-19.
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is in discussions with the CFL, which is seeking financial support to help with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• White Rock council has given initial readings to a 2020 financial plan amended to reflect the multi-million dollar impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the city budget.
• A staff member at the Langley Lodge seniors facility and a resident of The Residence at Clayton Heights have tested positive for COVID-19 by Fraser Health.
• A Fraser Valley-based fundraising group that typically helps schools, sports teams and community groups raise money through plant sales has shifted its focus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A retail giant is reaching out to the little guy, offering to give small businesses a boost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Surrey musician Pat Chessell will play an “Online Kitchen Party” this Friday night, May 1, as part of a series of online performances created to help people staying home to connect with the arts.
• A North Delta teen is helping make life on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic a bit more comfortable for staff at Lower Mainland hospitals.
• Like everyone affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the Surrey Association for Community Living has had to pivot in order to continue to provide care for its clients.
• City of Surrey manager Vincent Lalonde says the COVID-19 Compliance and Enforcement Team has reported “strong compliance” with the provincial medical health officer’s directions related to the pandemic.
• Police say two people were arrested after $33,000 in stolen Canada Emergency Response Benefit cheques was recovered by Surrey RCMP Officers with the Covid-19 Compliance and Enforcement Team.
• Two new Lower Mainland poultry plants have announced employees testing positive for COVID-19.
• Canada’s chief medical officers defended their agency’s record on non-medical masks as the country’s COVID-19 cases topped 50,000.
• A pet photographer in Vernon says she hopes photos and videos of her Boston terrier are “making people smile, because, right now, there’s so much bad news out there.”
• The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is examining 17 different immune system tests with people who are known to have recovered from COVID-19.
• Delta council approved a revised budget Monday afternoon that aims to save the city, and residents, some cash during the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The House of Commons will be asked today to give rapid approval to legislation authorizing $9 billion in promised financial assistance for students facing bleak summer job prospects in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Businesses in White Rock shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, or forced to curtail sidewalk patio activities, got some additional breaks from council at Monday night’s meeting.
• The Canadian Forces Snowbirds are getting ready to take to the skies to pay tribute to those trying to flatten the curve of COVID-19.
• The Surrey Board of Trade is to host a ‘Workforce Digital Town Hall’ with B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains and deputy Minister of Labour Trevor Hughes at 1 p.m. today. To register, visit zoom.us/webinar
• Statistics Canada reports nearly one-third of Canadian businesses who responded in a newly released survey have seen their revenues plummet by 40 per cent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• McDonald’s Canada says it will start importing beef as Canada’s beef supply chain struggles to meet current demand amid COVID-19.
• Haircuts for Good fundraiser asking for donations through home haircuts, with an aim to raise money for health-care foundations and food banks.
• For millions of people around the world dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, sleep brings no relief.
• While the government spends hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and test potential vaccines for COVID-19, experts say mandatory vaccination is unlikely given the difficult practical and ethical problems that would entail.
