The British Columbia government says it is ending the state of emergency imposed last month when thousands of residents were chased out of their homes by wildfires.
The government says in a statement the wildfire risk is diminishing in much of the province as temperatures cool, allowing most residents to return home.
More coming.
British Columbia's seniors advocate is asking the province to designate one person as an essential visitor for every long-term care resident as the facilities move to stem the spread of COVID-19. Isobel Mackenzie says in a news release that the need to limit visitors has left a majority of long-term care residents without visits from loved ones.
There are 31,817 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 238,524 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 324 individuals are in hospital and 90 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
With the harsh winter conditions in the Lower mainland, Alex Fraser Bridge has been shut down in both directions. A tweet from Drive BC says to use an alternate route
Provincial health officer for British Columbia Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a news conference Tuesday that schools are "not a major source of transmission." But other experts say schools need to take extra care against the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
B.C.'s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned earlier this week that businesses, schools and health facilities could lose up to a third of their staff due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he has become a father for the first time, to a baby daughter. Singh announced today that he and his wife Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu welcomed a baby girl into the world on Monday.