Coronavirus (COVID-19) Local News

Eleven more people have died of COVID-19 in B.C., bringing the total to 69, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday.

An online petition seeking to limit access to Vancouver Island during the COVID-19 outbreak continues to gain momentum, despite a dramatic drop in B.C. Ferries traffic over the long weekend.

Heavily armed Oak Bay police officers boarded a stolen yacht in the middle of the night and arrested a man who claimed to be infected with the COVID-19 virus.

In the past month, Victoria criminal lawyer Mike Munro has been besieged by calls from clients at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre who want to get bail as quickly as possible. “They’re worried,” Munro said.

The provincial government has announced $5 million in funding to increase access to virtual mental-health services in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Royal Canadian Navy is in the midst of a coronavirus-readiness response called Operation Laser. A Department of National Defence spokesperson said navy crews are being kept quarantined or at sea to remain ready to be deployed.

Alberta is sending 250,000 N95 masks to B.C. as part of a plan to supply personal protective equipment and ventilators to three provinces to help in the COVID-19 fight.

As nine 3D printers in a UVic lab busily tap out parts for medical face shields for Island Health, biomedical engineer Stephanie Willerth’s mind is buzzing with more ways to make and re-use protective equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaders step up when a need is there. The Jawl Foundation, the Victoria Foundation and the Times Colonist did that with their rapid response to the impacts of the COVID-19 virus on the Greater Victoria community.

Sylvia Olsen is looking forward to the time when the coronavirus crisis is over and it's once again safe to hug her grandchildren.