COVID-19

Penticton-based poet Shane Koyczan released his poem Tomorrow on YouTube speaking a message of hope for what 2022 could bring. (Shane Koyczan photo)

Famed Penticton poet Shane Koyczan offers a dose of hope for 2022

Shane Koyczan releases ‘Tomorrow’ on Youtube where we should ‘stockpile hope like toilet paper’

Penticton-based poet Shane Koyczan released his poem Tomorrow on YouTube speaking a message of hope for what 2022 could bring. (Shane Koyczan photo)
When they heard about the drop-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Langley Events centre on Sunday, April 25, the Crocker family wasted no time getting there. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)

Year in Review: COVID in 2021 saw vaccinations expand, crushing new variants

Langley went through shutdowns, a circuit breaker, and met Delta and Omicron

When they heard about the drop-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Langley Events centre on Sunday, April 25, the Crocker family wasted no time getting there. (Dan Ferguson/Langley Advance Times)
After a two-day hiatus, Pacific Coastal Airlines flights will resume on Jan. 4. (File photo)
After a two-day hiatus, Pacific Coastal Airlines flights will resume on Jan. 4. (File photo)
A commercial truck headed through a flooded section of 208th Street near 102B Avenue north of Walnut Grove on in early December. Rain had stopped but multiple roads were still closed or partly flooded. (Langley Advance Times files)

Our View: Resilience for our communities should be 2022 goal

From local to national, we need to be prepared for the next crisis

  • Dec 31, 2021
A commercial truck headed through a flooded section of 208th Street near 102B Avenue north of Walnut Grove on in early December. Rain had stopped but multiple roads were still closed or partly flooded. (Langley Advance Times files)
(Manning Park Resort photo)

Manning Park Resort workers report at least 20 cases of COVID-19 among staff

But management says protocols are being followed and sick employees are taken out of workforce

(Manning Park Resort photo)
The dark purple colour indicates that a city is seeing more than 20 cases per 100,000 people per day. (BCCDC)

Langley’s COVID numbers hit record high even as testing resources hit a wall

Cold weather even impeded testing locally in the past week

The dark purple colour indicates that a city is seeing more than 20 cases per 100,000 people per day. (BCCDC)

B.C. gym forced to close due to B.C. COVID mandate calls for essential service status

Gyms, fitness centres and bars were recently ordered to close under new Omicron-related measures

Langley School District’s board office. (Langley Advance Times files)

Langley schools face delayed return due to Omicron spread

B.C. schools will return on Jan. 10 instead of Jan. 3

Langley School District’s board office. (Langley Advance Times files)
Undated Google Maps image of Fort Langley Seniors Community at 8838 Glover Road. The seniors home is one of three locations in the Fraser Valley seeing COVID outbreaks as of Wednesday, Dec. 29. (Google Maps)

COVID outbreaks hit seniors homes in Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack

Care home outbreaks had dwindled to almost nil before the Omicron wave

Undated Google Maps image of Fort Langley Seniors Community at 8838 Glover Road. The seniors home is one of three locations in the Fraser Valley seeing COVID outbreaks as of Wednesday, Dec. 29. (Google Maps)
Kelowna Courthouse. (Phil McLachlan-Capital News/FILE)

Prominent Kelowna anti-lockdown protester faces assault charges

David Lindsay faces two counts of assault related to an incident on August 19

Kelowna Courthouse. (Phil McLachlan-Capital News/FILE)
The BC School COVID Tracker website and Facebook page have nearly 60,000 followers, and has become a ‘go-to’ source for the latest information on COVID exposures within the BC School system. (Aman Parhar/Omineca Express)

B.C. COVID school tracker website continues to grow

Website authenticates all information before adding to database

The BC School COVID Tracker website and Facebook page have nearly 60,000 followers, and has become a ‘go-to’ source for the latest information on COVID exposures within the BC School system. (Aman Parhar/Omineca Express)
Langley’s weekly COVID numbers more than doubled from 65 a week ago. (BCCDC)

Langley COVID cases more than double in a week

North Shore, Vancouver hit harder than Fraser Valley

Langley’s weekly COVID numbers more than doubled from 65 a week ago. (BCCDC)
Distancing signs like these became the ‘new normal’ in early 2020. We have no idea what will come next. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Painful Truth: There’s no normal, new or old

Whatever comes next will feel normal eventually, no matter how strange it is

Distancing signs like these became the ‘new normal’ in early 2020. We have no idea what will come next. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, here receiving a seasonal flu vaccination, says the high vaccination rate at UVic is helping prevent serious illness despite a spike in COVID-19 cases associated with the school. (Courtesy Province of B.C.)

High vaccination rate helped mitigate B.C. university COVID-19 spike: Dr. Henry

Case uptick hasn’t translated into severe illness in University of Victoria community, Henry says

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, here receiving a seasonal flu vaccination, says the high vaccination rate at UVic is helping prevent serious illness despite a spike in COVID-19 cases associated with the school. (Courtesy Province of B.C.)
Small businesses in B.C. such as along Bernard Avenue in Kelowna's downtown core will continue to face challenging fiscal times in 2022. (File photo)

Grim 2022 outlook for B.C.’s small business sector

Business sector report calls for more government fiscal help

Small businesses in B.C. such as along Bernard Avenue in Kelowna's downtown core will continue to face challenging fiscal times in 2022. (File photo)
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on the COVID-19 pandemic at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 16, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

Vancouver Giants games, tournaments see disruptions from new COVID rules

The rapid spread of the new Omicron variant has caused health authorites to tighten restrictions

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provides an update on the COVID-19 pandemic at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 16, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
A house on the corner of Queensway Dr. and Mark Ave. south of Terrace on Dec. 17, 2021. Dr. Raina Fumerton, Northern Health chief medical officer for the northwest, said that anti-government attitudes could be a factor in stalling COVID-19 vaccination rates in the health authority. (Ben Bogstie/Terrace Standard)

COVID vaccination rates stall out in northern B.C.

Hesitancy, mistrust are among factors at play

A house on the corner of Queensway Dr. and Mark Ave. south of Terrace on Dec. 17, 2021. Dr. Raina Fumerton, Northern Health chief medical officer for the northwest, said that anti-government attitudes could be a factor in stalling COVID-19 vaccination rates in the health authority. (Ben Bogstie/Terrace Standard)
Langley’s COVID numbers rose very slightly from last week. (BCCDC)

COVID cases stop dropping in Langley, Surrey sees steep rise

Youth vaccinations continue to lag in Langley comapred with its neighbours

Langley’s COVID numbers rose very slightly from last week. (BCCDC)
The faces of Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix were attached to effigies hung during a vaccine protest event at the B.C. legislature on Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy of Facebook/Anne O’Neil)

‘Unacceptable:’ B.C. attorney general responds after premier, ministers hung in effigy

Actions came at Dec. 9 at vaccine protest rally, VicPD gathering information

The faces of Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix were attached to effigies hung during a vaccine protest event at the B.C. legislature on Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy of Facebook/Anne O’Neil)
(Photo: Metro creative stock)

B.C. chiropractor pens motion to regulator to ‘take a stand’ against vaccine mandates

Mark Foullong urged the College of Chiropractors of British Columbia to maintain “medical freedom of choice”

(Photo: Metro creative stock)
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