Coronavirus: Everything you need to know in Vancouver today
Each day in Canada, a lot of news regarding COVID-19 comes out nationally and locally.
Now, we’re bringing you the top coronavirus headlines from Vancouver and across Canada all together in one place on a daily basis, to help you digest all the information and stay in the know with the biggest stories and developments.
Top COVID-19 stories for April 15 in Vancouver
Trudeau says Canada’s economy won’t reopen “for many more weeks”
Early this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it will be “many weeks” before Canada even begins to reopen its economy. He said that the main concern is that, if people head back to work too soon, it could cause another peak in COVID-19 cases. “It will be extremely damaging both to how Canadians feel, but also to our economy. That’s why we are going to be extremely careful about any steps towards opening the economy,” Trudeau said. “If we reopen too soon, everything were doing now might be for nothing. We are making sacrifices, we’re there for each other, we need to hold on still, and then once we’re ready, once we feel were through, once the experts are telling us that we can talk about reopening the economy a little bit, we will take very careful steps and do that.”
Here in BC, health officials announced 44 new test-positive coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Wednesday afternoon. During a press conference, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the total number of recorded cases in the province now sits at 1,561, and the total number of deaths now sits at 75. Broken down by health region, Henry said there are 670 cases in Vancouver Coastal Health, 623 in Fraser Health, 92 on Vancouver Island, 146 in the Interior Health, and 30 in the Northern Health region. The number of long-term care homes in the province with a patient or member of staff who has tested positive remains at 21.
BC government extends state of emergency by 2 weeks
Premier John Horgan has announced BC will be extending its state of emergency for an additional two weeks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “We still have more work today,” said Horgan in a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “Therefore, cabinet reaffirmed the state of emergency, extending it for another two weeks, ensuring that all British Columbians stay the course.” The state of emergency is being extended until April 28.
Vancouver mayor renews call for provincial and federal assistance
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart addressed Vancouver’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, once again stressing the need for support from the provincial and federal government. The mayor says that the City has approximately $130 million in cash reserves, which are typically held to fund emergencies or unforeseen costs. And while it’s typically not recommended to use more than a third of the emergency fund, the City could use it all if necessary, but Stewart says it wouldn’t nearly be enough to carry through the rest of the year. “If the pandemic carried to 2021, it wouldn’t be enough,” he explains. “It also doesn’t cover defaulting on property taxes.” Stewart added that the economic shortfalls could lead to more layoffs and deeper cuts to city services, should the pandemic continue to the end of the summer.
Looking for more information and further updates? You can view all the day’s headlines in real-time here.