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Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 can now be tested in B.C.

Most people with the virus have mild symptoms, and about 80 per cent are recovering at home

Testing is available for anyone in B.C. with COVID-19 symptoms, according to the chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The province’s testing guidelines were changed last week-and those changes were communicated to physicians-said Dr. Patricia Daly during a virtual town hall Friday evening about COVID-19.…

Hail Hollywood Satan! (and Quarantino 4)

Let the record show that humans, most of us anyhow, are social animals. Which means when you lock us up in isolation for a month, shit starts to get squirrely.…

The outdoor industry is stepping up to help fight the pandemic

One of my morning rituals I’ve adhered to over the years has been listening to the CBC World Report podcast. I put on my headphones, walk my dog, pick up his poo and hear about what’s going on in Canada and the world.…

Should Tourism Whistler members have to pay their fees amidst COVID-19?

Lawyer argues member contract is ‘frustrated,’ resigns membership

with tourism at a standstill and Whistler effectively closed, should Tourism Whistler (TW) members have to pay their fees? That’s the question being posed by some members as COVID-19 continues to take its toll.…

Doctors don’t know when masks are coming, despite deliveries arriving in Canada

OTTAWA — Even as planeloads of supplies to protect Canada’s medical workers arrive, many primary-care physicians say they are in the dark about when they’re going to get what they need to keep helping patients. Global shortages of surgical masks and disposable N95 respirators have put Canadian medical workers under pressure to conserve what little they have left.…

Science World may be forced to permanently close

“This has been a devasting blow to our organization and it will be hard for us to recover from”

Science World states that it may be forced to permanently close doors due to a lack of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally constructed as part of the Expo 86 World Fair, Vancouver’s iconic geodesic dome opened its doors in 1986.…

Squamish Constellation Festival in holding pattern

Event organizers join provincial collective designed to help festivals weather COVID-19 storm

The Squamish Constellation Festival, like so many other organizations, is in a holding pattern because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers are looking at all available options to proceed in the future. Co-founder and CEO Tamara Stanners said in an April 17 interview that organizers are telling agents that the festival, which is slated to run from July 24 to 26, is on hold as it waits for more information to come available.…

Vancouver Aquarium says it may be forced to permanently close

‘This is an unprecedented time and the Vancouver Aquarium is in real peril’

THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM says that it may be forced to permanently close its doors due to a lack of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Home to 70,000 animals, the Vancouver Aquarium is the oldest and largest aquarium in Canada, first opening in 1956.…

SLRD says homes destroyed; 60 to 100 people displaced by Squamish Valley fire

New estimates show the fire is 203 hectares

Initial rough estimates indicate that about three homes were destroyed and between 60 to 100 people have been displaced by the Squamish Valley fire. Tony Rainbow, chair of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District board, said that these numbers are still preliminary and subject to change.…

The Hairfarmers stream third live show tonight

Local band, along with Whistler Live, have raised over $100,000 for local food banks

Sea to Sky corridor, are you ready to rock—for a third time? Over the last six weeks, Whistler duo The Hairfarmers have teamed up with Whistler Live to livestream concerts from a “secret” location at Tapley’s Farm and raise money for the Whistler and Pemberton Food Banks.…

Trudeau announces full slate of funding for energy, arts/sports, rural small businesses

Cannot ignore environmental crisis in the face of COVID-19, Trudeau says

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced a slew of new funding initiatives, including a $1.7-billion investment to clean up orphaned oil wells that could maintain 5,200 jobs in Alberta. The announcement comes after the Canadian energy sector requested repeatedly for specific measures from Ottawa to aid them in the face of COVID-19, as well as a global slide in oil prices as Russia and Saudi Arabia engage in a price war.…

B.C. COVID-19 recoveries close in on 1,000

Province has 14 new infections in the past 24 hours and a total of 1,575 infections

B.C.’s provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix released data April 16 to illustrate how the COVID-19 pandemic is progressing in B.C., and the good news is that the number of recoveries continues to far surpass the number of people in hospital, and even those who have not recovered. Henry noted that 983 people have so far recovered from the virus, including 28 in the past 24 hours.…

The optimist’s guide to self-isolation

I have a confession to make. I may have unintentionally manifested an international lockdown.…

Joy Project looks to give thanks

Online ‘game’ brings people together for gratitude

Whistler entrepreneurs Andrew Long and Gina Mollicone-Long have revamped their business in order to promote gratitude. The pair run Connectify, an online “team-based, problem-solving challenge” designed to engage, support and connect employees working from home but recently pivoted to making the program accessible free of charge to the general public, all the while providing encouragement to hard-working healthcare staff.…

Q&A with Mitchell Hammond: What history teaches us about pandemics

The COVID-19 crisis has shown that pandemics belong as much to the present as the past. From Ebola to HIV/AIDs to Zika, University of Victoria historian Mitchell Hammond says disease has played an increasingly significant role in global affairs in recent decades.…