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B.C. planning to ease COVID-19 restrictions

Work under way to investigate issue but no date yet, says top doctor

British Columbia is making plans to relax province-wide restrictions aimed at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, but a firm date has not been set, said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry April 27. “Getting close” was as far as Henry ventured during a news conference Monday.…

OPINION: The meat of the matter: Don’t expect shortages in Canada

Safety of employees must come first in agri-food industry

As COVID-19 ravages communities across North America, many analysts believe meat-packing plants, where employees work close to each other, are the next focal point of the spread of the virus. We’re likely in the worst of it now.…

Canada needs sufficient capacity for COVID-19 testing, tracing before economy reopens: PM

Trudeau says shared guidelines between Ottawa, provinces will be released shortly

CANADA MUST have enough capacity to sufficiently test for and trace cases of COVID-19 before the economy can reopen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday (April 28). The prime minister made the remarks the day after Ontario and Quebec offered their respective frameworks for reopening the provinces’ economies.…

B.C.’s care aids fighting for equal wages during pandemic and beyond

Union for care aids confirms that they are still working at multiple seniors’ care facilities at the same time.

It’s a “frightening” time for many care aids working in long-term care facilities and for residents living in them. That’s according to their B.C.-based Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU), which is in the thick of helping its members adhere to the B.C. government’s “one-site direction,” from early April, which dictates that care aids can only work at one facility, as opposed to the multiple many of them worked at previously.…

Researchers scramble to inform doctors of COVID-19 risk to LGBTQ

OTTAWA — Researchers at the University of Toronto are rapidly trying to educate health-care workers about the barriers LGBTQ people face to accessing care during the COVID-19 crisis. The research group had already been developing a curriculum to address inequities in the health-care system for people who identify as LGBTQ.…

Whistler seniors well supported during COVID-19

Help and resources for seniors available online

When Whistler’s Mature Action Community (MAC) was first formed in 1995, one of the key goals was to help local seniors (aged 55 and over) feel connected.…

New COVID-19 cases decreasing

Provincial health officer says easing of restrictions to be announced soon

THE NUMBER OF new COVID-19 infections in B.C. continues to fall, and in the days to come British Columbians can look forward to the easing of some restrictions, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday. However, she said parents should not expect schools to be back open this summer, and would not say which types of services and businesses will be allowed to open first.…

Pandemic to deliver $5-billion deficit to B.C. budget: RBC

B.C. was projecting a slight budget surplus prior to pandemic

That the pandemic will cost B.C. dearly is not a bombshell. But a new report from economists at the Royal Bank of Canada is releasing concrete numbers, warning British Columbians to expect a deficit to the tune of $5 billion this fiscal year.…

Whitecaps’ sale of face masks to boost Vancouver Aquarium going gangbusters

$1 million worth of face masks sold so far

The Vancouver Whitecaps had sold more than 57,000 masks as of Monday morning with all net proceeds going to help the financially troubled Vancouver Aquarium. The MLS team said it has sold more $1 million worth of face masks since the two groups announced the fundraising campaign on Friday.…

Care-home visiting rules could ease in summer

Changes to restrictions will be slight modifications and are dependent on number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations

B.C.’s top doctor hopes to ease COVID-19 restrictions on visitors at seniors’ residences and hospitals this summer, allowing at least one family member to visit a loved one. “I absolutely hope to be able [to have] at least have one family visitor be available, be able to go into long-term care to spend time only with their family member,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said.…

Canadian nature expert doubts we’re seeing more wildlife during pandemic

Animals likely taking advantage of people staying inside, so they explore

From bears popping up in Peru’s Machu Picchu to wildlife using empty city streets to travel, the global economic slowdown has led to human beings seeing wildlife in places like never before. Similar unusual sightings have been reported across Canada in recent weeks.…

Vail Resorts offers credits towards next season for 2019/20 passholders

Up to 80% credit available, based on number of days pass was used

Some relief is on the way for Vail Resorts passholders who saw the 2019/20 season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Colorado-based company is offering between 20 and 80 per cent credit to season passholders to put towards the purchase of a 2020-21 pass, based on the price of the pass and the amount of days it was used.…

Sports as a COVID measuring stick

It was supposed to be a busy weekend. These particular days in April are actually often almost frustratingly packed, as the World Ski and Snowboard Festival and the Whistler Cup trample all over one another and I’m scrambling to figure out how to be in two places at once.…

First wage subsidy payments due to arrive May 7: Trudeau

The $73-billion program garners 10,000 applicants during first morning of launch

Businesses can expect payments for the federal government’s wage subsidy program to arrive beginning May 7, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Monday (April 27) marks the launch of the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy program, which covers 75 per cent of the first $58,700 an employee earns.…

More help on the way for tourism, small business

Whistler Chamber hosts virtual meeting with Sea to Sky MP and parliamentary small business secretary

more support is on the way for tourism operators and other small businesses hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, assured Ottawa’s secretary for small business and the Sea to Sky’s MP in a virtual meeting with local business leaders. The Whistler Chamber of Commerce hosted the webinar over Zoom on Tuesday, April 21 with Rachel Bendayan, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, and Patrick Weiler, federal MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, who both went over the federal assistance programs currently available to business owners and assured that more help is on the way for the tourism sector.…