Health

'Superheroes' needed to manage COVID-19 as province heads into flu season

NANAIMO - The province has shone the bat signal for 'superheroes' to be the ones who lead BC through a tricky fall and winter flu season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie...

Aug 31, 2020

Canada signs deal with Novovax to get 76 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

OTTAWA - The federal government has a deal with a third vaccine developer to get access to an experimental COVID-19 vaccine as early as next spring. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Montreal t...

Aug 31, 2020

Memorial wall created as overdose crisis in Nanaimo takes heavy toll

NANAIMO - The International Overdose Awareness Day event in Nanaimo will have a markedly more solemn tone in 2020.Though the event on Monday, Aug. 31 has always commemorated the hundreds lost to fatal...

Aug 31, 2020

Nanaimo curlers gearing up for modified COVID-19 season

NANAIMO - Local curlers will see a host of tweaks and changes in a bid to have a COVID-free year.The Nanaimo Curling Club has instituted many rules and mandates designed to comply and exceed COVID-19 ...

Aug 30, 2020

Local COVID-19 numbers shared by health ministry

NANAIMO - New data from the Ministry of Health shows how COVID-19 impacted the mid island region. The map provided during a Thursday, Aug. 27 news conference showed there were 15 confirmed COVID-19 ca...

Aug 27, 2020

Island COVID-19 cases climb to 170 as active cases drop province-wide

NANAIMO - After cresting to a record high earlier this week, the number of active COVID-19 cases has dropped below 900. A total of 62 new cases were confirmed by the province in a statement Wednesday ...

Alex Rawnsley Aug 26, 2020

2 new COVID-19 cases confirmed for Island Health as smaller number of new cases announced

NANAIMO - The number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed by the province has dipped from recent alarming highs. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and health minister Adrian...

Aug 25, 2020

Nanaimo close to exceeding total 2019 overdose deaths

NANAIMO - The toll of the illicit overdose crisis continues to skyrocket. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe announced 175 people fatally overdosed in B.C. in July, a 136 per cent increase in fatalities comp...

Aug 25, 2020

Undetected transmission remains low in B.C. as six new COVID-19 cases found in Island Health

NANAIMO - The BC Government remains unfazed by rising COVID-19 case counts.Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry confirmed 269 new cases were detected since Friday afternoon, including six in the...

Aug 24, 2020

Bus riders and ferry customers required to mask up

NANAIMO - Face coverings are now mandatory for RDN Transit and BC Ferries customers.The policies take effect Monday, Aug 24 in light of elevated COVID-19 caseloads in B.C. in recent weeks.The RDN's fa...

Aug 24, 2020