Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Victoria Viewpoints: Wednesday, March 31, 2021



Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for   Wednesday, March 31, 2021 
   

Coronavirus response in BC



Globe and Mail




CBC



Vancouver Sun


Victoria Times-Colonist


Victoria News


Global BC


Georgia Straight
The Tyee



Miscellaneous






Ottawa Observations: Wednesday, March 31, 2021




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Wednesday, March 31, 2021
 


Canadians held in China / China tensions



The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)



Globe and Mail



CBC
  

Toronto Star
   

Toronto Sun


National Post


Maclean's

--

Global




Miscellaneous









Prince Rupert data from BC CDC shows much welcome drop in week to week reports of COVID from community outbreak


Finally after two and half months, there is some welcome news for the North Coast, with today's information release from BC CDC showing a drop of thirty three cases of COVID in this region from one week ago.

Today's report shows that Prince Rupert's totals for the week of March 21-27, listed at 80 reported positive cases of the coronavirus.  

A small sign, perhaps  that the community may finally be getting a hold on the expansive outbreak of the last two months.

For much of the last six weeks, Prince Rupert results have remained stubbornly high, which led to one of the factors in the decision to host the community wide vaccination clinic earlier this month.

However while signs appear positive, earlier this week, the North Coast took note of a reminder that the challenges remain.

That as  Northern Health announced an outbreak at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, reinforcing the message that we need to continue to be aware of the health measures in place for the province.

For the rest of the Northwest, this week provides good news of declines in case counts across the region, with no increases to be found in any community west of Prince George.

Across the remainder of the Northwest, the cases reported from  March 21 to 27 were as follows.

Terrace -- 20
Upper Skeena  -- 17
Kitimat -- 13
Smithers --
Nisga'a Region -- 7
Haida Gwaii -- 5
Burns Lake -- 4 
Bella Coola Valley -- 1

The Central Coast, Snow Country-Stikine-Telegraph and Nechako regions all have reported no cases this week from the data review. 

Other charts and information from the BC CDC can be explored here.

You can review the latest information from the Public Health office Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix here.  

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

Wednesday COVID report sees British Columbia total top over 1,000 on the day ... marking one day record in case counts.

The pace of COVID case counts is charting new and worrisome territory today, with the province delivering a single day count of over 1,000 new cases of coronavirus in British Columbia, a one day record since the arrival of the coronavirus in January of 2020.

The totals today, moving us above the 1K mark that we have been flirting with for weeks now, with over 87 percent of the cases coming from the Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health regions.

The daily review for Wednesday came by way of a statement from Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.

“Today, we are reporting 1,013 new cases, including six   cases, for a total of 100,048 cases in British Columbia. 

There are 7,405 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 11,468 people under public health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases. 

A further 91,066 people who tested positive have recovered. “Of the active cases, 301 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 80 of whom are in intensive care. 

The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. 

There have been three new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,458 deaths in British Columbia."

Across the province the Health Authority totals were as follows: 385 new cases of COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 458 new cases in the Fraser Health region, 47 in the Island Health region, 64 in the Interior Health region, 

There were 60 new cases recorded in the Northern Health region, which brings the Northern region total to just under the 6,000 mark with case to date now listed at 5,944 cases of COVID reported across Northern BC since January of 2020.

Today delivered no new cases of COVID for people in British Columbia who reside outside of Canada. 

There was a delay in the sequencing analysis for variants of concern today, and as a result, the new cases for the last 24 hours are not available for review.

The pace of vaccination in the province was as follows today.  To date, 756,080 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-SII COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 87,351 of which are second doses.

Doctor Henry and Minister Dix also noted how the province remains on track towards its vaccine schedule but that challenges still remain.

“There are three important things to remember about the COVID-19 vaccines. First, everyone will have access to a safe and effective vaccine, and that remains on track to happen before Canada Day. 

Second, the more people who receive a vaccine, the safer we all are, which is why we are working around the clock to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible. 

Third, we don’t yet have enough people protected through the vaccines to be able to put aside any of our safety precautions, so we need to continue to follow all the public health orders and guidelines we have in place."

Further notes on Wednesday's report can be reviewed here.   


BC CDC Data for BC For March 31 2021


BC CDC Data for the Northern Health Region For March 31 2021


The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.

You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:

Federal Government site

British Columbia Government site

The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.

More from  Northern Health can be reviewed here 

You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.   

Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories  can be reviewed here.

For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee


Ottawa Observations


Victoria Viewpoints

 





 

CityWest hopes to have Fibre to Home in place in 60 percent of Prince Rupert homes by years end

COVID it appears has provided for a bit of a challenge when it comes to the roll out of CityWest's Fibre to Home project, with the City of Prince Rupert owned and operated communication company now advising that they hope to see 60 percent of the city wired up by this fall.

The 10 million dollar project was introduced in 2017,  launched in 2018 and CityWest officials last reported that the project had hoped to reach fifty percent coverage by the end of 2019. 

With CityWest having announced a number of out of town fibre projects over the course of the last few months, the North Coast Review contacted Chris Armstrong from CityWest for an update on the local work of much interest to city residents.

In reply, the Director of Sales and Marketing observed that the pace slowed down locally last year owing to COVID, with the company looking to have another sector of the city, focused on the Hays Cove Circle area of the city, done by the fall. 

A goal which if achieved would make for 60 percent coverage to that point for the city.

The area from Hays Cove Circle to McBride is said to be next up for
CityWest's Fibre to Home project in Prince Rupert

Towards the overall Fibre to Home project Mr. Armstrong observed:

'We’re looking to one day having fibre to the home all over Prince Rupert, and all our customers today can access fast and reliable Internet, TV, and phone services."


From the map provided at the time of the 2019 update, once the Hays Cove/Fifth East region is complete, the areas that would remain for the Fibre project would include connecting the downtown area, the Crestview/Prince Rupert Boulevard area, as well as the Sloan/Summit/Kootneay  area on the west side of the city.

You can review some of the past notes on the Fibre to Home project from our notes below:

February 19, 2019 -- CityWest eyes fifty percent coverage of Prince Rupert by year end for Fibre to Home expansion project
June 5, 2018 -- CityWest provides Fibre to home timeline report for Prince Rupert
May 31, 2017 -- CityWest announces 10 million dollar investment in fibre infrastructure set for Prince Rupert

With the residents of Prince Rupert owners of CityWest, City Council may want to return to the days of past and ask for some regular updates from the communication company to keep its investors up to date. 

Providing a forum at a public Council session for company officials, even if by Zoom if necessary,  to speak to some of the latest plans for the city owned company.

Sharing further details on the projects ahead for far flung areas of the Northwest and Coastal BC; as well as to the more nearby reaches of the city whether downtown, west-side or east-side.

The Search engine from the CityWest website offers a few company themes on Fibre to Home to explore

More notes on CityWest can be reviewed from our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

SD52 provides update on Budget Consultation process, with Budget decision Looming in April

Members of the Prince Rupert School Board of Education hosted an online Budget Consultation session on Monday, providing a wide ranging review of the Budget process so far, as well as to share some of the feedback that they have received from the public to this point of their work on the financial planning for 2021-2022.

SD52 has provided the full overview of the Monday presentation, posted to the District website, which outlines many of the elements covered during the course of the session this week.

The opening of their review included a look at the plans ahead over the next five years, with notes on teacher recruitment, some forward momentum towards a new middle school and a look at the Focus of Education that the Board has adopted, a five point program towards learning as well as some of their Frameworks towards enhanced learning.


Documentation  also included a look at Graduation rates, as well as the impact of the pandemic on student learning and achievement.

Towards the Budget process, the District has provided a glimpse into the factors that impact on Budget Making as well as what they have heard from those who have participated in the process to date.


The Board provided some additional background on some of their Risk Analysis towards education in the District, outlining many of the factors they are working with when it comes to crafting their financial plan for the next few years.




When it comes to following the money at the School District offices, the majority of the District's expenses can be found in one category that of Labour costs, an area which takes up close to 90 percent of expenditures.


Looking ahead the Board notes of the timeline ahead when it comes to hearing of staffing challenges for the year ahead. With retirements and resignations part of their planning process, as well as planning for the PRMS replacement project as well as whatever new challenges COVID may deliver.





The full overview of the Budget presentation, which is well worth exploring to understand the process can be found here.

With their consultation process now at an end, the Board next meets on Tuesday April 6th to review the feedback from the public and any additional notes that may come along until that date.

The Budget Decision making will be complete by April 13th, with a Third Reading of the Budget document to come in May.

At that time, students, parents/guardians, staff and support workers will all have a sense of the path ahead for education in the Prince Rupert area for the year ahead.

More notes on the SD52 Financial review can be found from the Board of Education website here.

Further notes on education across the Northwest can be found from our archive pages here.

Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Lee Brain call on residents to keep Prince Ruperts restaurant scene vibrant by way of Take Out


With another list of revisions to the Public Health Orders announced on Monday, the provincial restaurant industry has been handed another challenge from a year of challenges, with dining in currently not allowed as part of the roll out of measures this week.


The new measures listed by Doctor Bonnie Henry on Monday however do allow for dining on patios or by way of take out. 

And to help remind residents of the North Coast of that allowance, the Prince Rupert/Port Edward Chamber of Commerce has taken to its Social Media page to urge residents to keep local dining options in their meal planning sharing some of their favourite stops as they prepare to take advantage of the varied menus found in town by way of Take Out.

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain has also gotten behind the campaign to create awareness of local restaurants and the need to step up to help them out. Using his Civic Facebook page to share the word and also to ask residents to share their favourite dining spots with the community.


More notes related to the Prince Rupert and area business community can be found from our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.




  


Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Victoria Viewpoints: Tuesday, March 30, 2021



Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene for   Tuesday, March 30, 2021 
   

Coronavirus response in BC



Globe and Mail



CBC



Vancouver Sun


Victoria Times-Colonist



Victoria News



Global BC



Georgia Straight
The Tyee



Miscellaneous






Ottawa Observations: Tuesday, March 30, 2021




Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Tuesday, March 30, 2021
 


Canadians held in China / China tensions





The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)



Globe and Mail



CBC
  


Toronto Star
   

Toronto Sun



National Post



Maclean's

--

Global




Miscellaneous