COVID-19

FILE – A pedestrian walks alongside businesses on a rainy day while wearing a protective mask during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on June 18, 2021. A new Statistics Canada study has found that some racialized populations in Canada had significantly higher mortality rates from COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Racialized people had higher mortality rates from COVID-19: Statistics Canada

‘It confirms what a lot of us had believed, how COVID has basically targeted racialized people’

FILE – A pedestrian walks alongside businesses on a rainy day while wearing a protective mask during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on June 18, 2021. A new Statistics Canada study has found that some racialized populations in Canada had significantly higher mortality rates from COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Riley Oldford, 16-years-old and who suffers from cerebral palsy, is the first N.W.T. youth to get the Pfizer vaccine, receives the needle from Nurse practitioner Janie Neudorf in Yellowknife on Thursday May 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden

Once months ahead, N.W.T. behind in COVID-19 vaccine rollout for 4th doses

The National Advisory Committee stressed the importance of a fall booster program

Riley Oldford, 16-years-old and who suffers from cerebral palsy, is the first N.W.T. youth to get the Pfizer vaccine, receives the needle from Nurse practitioner Janie Neudorf in Yellowknife on Thursday May 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., on February 25, 2022. A think tank that’s been compiling data on COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care homes says it has to stop its work because provinces are no longer making enough information public about the spread of the virus in the sector. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Project tracking COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care paused due to lack of data

The website for the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Tracker Project will remain available online

Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., on February 25, 2022. A think tank that’s been compiling data on COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care homes says it has to stop its work because provinces are no longer making enough information public about the spread of the virus in the sector. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)

Campaign aims to get unvaxxed health care workers back in B.C. hospitals

‘Hire Back our Heroes’ campaigners says an entire career should not be tainted by one decision

Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)
A notice of civil claim has been filed against the City of Quesnel, the city’s manager, and the provincial government by non-vaccinated employees who were terminated earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of City of Quesnel)

Former employees launch lawsuit against City of Quesnel around vaccine mandates

A notice of civil claim was recently filed in B.C. Supreme Court

A notice of civil claim has been filed against the City of Quesnel, the city’s manager, and the provincial government by non-vaccinated employees who were terminated earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of City of Quesnel)
On Thursday, the BC Ministry of Environment, which oversees provincial parks, confirmed the Canadian side of Peace Arch Park will remain closed until at least Sept. 30, 2022 after the federal government extended COVID-related restrictions for entry to Canada. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

No summer access to Canada side of Peace Arch Park

With federal entry restrictions extended to Sept. 30, park will remain closed

On Thursday, the BC Ministry of Environment, which oversees provincial parks, confirmed the Canadian side of Peace Arch Park will remain closed until at least Sept. 30, 2022 after the federal government extended COVID-related restrictions for entry to Canada. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Researchers used data from 185 countries

In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)
Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted Photo)

PODCAST: Dr. Bonnie Henry discusses COVID-19 and what’s next for B.C.

TODAY IN B.C.: One-on-one chat with provincial health officer

Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted Photo)
Ross Wightman has been approved for compensation after falling ill due to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Ross Wightman/Facebook)

Lake Country man one of 1st in Canada to be approved for COVID vaccine injury compensation

The program will pay up to $284,000 for pain and suffering

Ross Wightman has been approved for compensation after falling ill due to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Ross Wightman/Facebook)
Orpheus Male Choir returns with a three concert series – the first performance to take place at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Langley this coming Sunday, May 29, at 2:30 p.m. (Special to Langley Advance Times)

Orpheus Male Choir rises again after two-year COVID hiatus

Spring concert has shows in three different communities – including Langley this Sunday

Orpheus Male Choir returns with a three concert series – the first performance to take place at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Langley this coming Sunday, May 29, at 2:30 p.m. (Special to Langley Advance Times)
Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses delegates during the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

WHO chief: COVID pandemic is ‘most certainly not over’

‘We lower our guard at our peril’

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses delegates during the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
The Legion Veterans Village project is seen under construction in Surrey, B.C., on Saturday, November 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Painful Truth: The glass is half-empty

Look on the gloomy side, it’ll keep you from falling flat on your face

The Legion Veterans Village project is seen under construction in Surrey, B.C., on Saturday, November 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Brookswood Library is one of seven in library branches in the Fraser Valley Regional Library system. (Langley Advance Times files)

Fraser Valley libraries get funding boost from Victoria

FVRL will get almost $220,000 in COVID relief and for emergency planning

Brookswood Library is one of seven in library branches in the Fraser Valley Regional Library system. (Langley Advance Times files)
Dozens display signs at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

B.C. family doctor shortage sparks hundreds to rally in Victoria

Advocates say 1 in 5 people in B.C. lack a general practitioner

Dozens display signs at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom graphic)

Fraser Valley woman has $5,750 COVID violation ticket dropped by Crown

Alberta’s Justice Centre defended ‘Ms. C’ who refused PCR test at U.S. border crossing

(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom graphic)
In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)

Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill

U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase pills

In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)
A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Oh, rats! As New Yorkers emerge from pandemic, so do rodents

Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings

A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)

Majority of B.C. parents vaccinated, but most kids are not

Parents in B.C. say they are wary of mRNA vaccination technology when it comes to their kids

Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)
The Annacis Island wastewater treatment plant, one of five where COVID-19 testing takes place across the Lower Mainland. (Black Press Media files)

Wasterwater tests flush out data on Langley COVID numbers

The current wave may have peaked, according to sewage testing for the virus

The Annacis Island wastewater treatment plant, one of five where COVID-19 testing takes place across the Lower Mainland. (Black Press Media files)
Families embrace after a flight from Los Angeles arrived at Auckland International Airport as New Zealand’s border opened for visa-waiver countries Monday, May 2, 2022. New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years as it dropped most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. (Jed Bradley/New Zealand Herald via AP)

New Zealand welcomes back tourists as COVID-19 pandemic rules eased

Visitors will need to be vaccinated

Families embrace after a flight from Los Angeles arrived at Auckland International Airport as New Zealand’s border opened for visa-waiver countries Monday, May 2, 2022. New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years as it dropped most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. (Jed Bradley/New Zealand Herald via AP)