Staff with BC Ferries are bracing for the busiest long weekend of the year, after a summer of delays, cancellations and communication problems.
More than 580-thousand passengers and 210-thousand vehicles are expected to travel with B-C Ferries between today and Tuesday.
BC Ferries says it has pulled out all the stops to ensure smoother sailing this weekend.
Passengers are being urged to travel during off-peak times.
79.9% (3,701,843) of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 53.2% (2,464,201) have received their second dose.
Canada has extended the ban on incoming passenger flights from India for another month til August 21, 2021. The federal government is not renewing the travel ban for Pakistan.
Officials say the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived beginning the second week of August for eligible travellers who are currently residing in the United States and have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada.
The federal government is expecting to receive about 7.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this week, as it adjusts its distribution strategy amid waning vaccination rates and substantial supply. The new deliveries will include about 3.1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and four million doses of Moderna.
Canada joined the United States and other allies on Monday in blaming China for a massive cyberattack that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year.
Surrey Fire Service assistant chief Shelley Morris says the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church was engulfed in flames by the time crews arrived at around 3:30 a.m.