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Tens of thousands of surgeries and screenings cancelled to make hospital beds available for the pandemic will start to be rescheduled mid-month, as the province kicks off a $250-million plan to clear the backlog.

Most of the Island鈥檚 provincial parks will reopen for day use next week, but some of the most popular areas will remain closed indefinitely to avoid overcrowding.

Personal-service establishments 鈥� including hair, nail and waxing salons and barbershops 鈥� will be able to open around mid-May if they have an approved plan detailing how they will safely operate.

A four-part 鈥渞estart plan鈥� will roll out over the next few weeks, easing pandemic restrictions on the economic, social, educational and recreational lives of British Columbians. 鈥淚t won鈥檛 be the flipping of a switch,鈥� said Premier John Horgan.

Another good reason to get out and bang your pots and pans at 7聽p.m. was presented in a health briefing this week. Twenty-one per cent of the COVID-19 cases in sa国际传媒 鈥� 428 people 鈥� are in the broad category of health care workers.

Part of our continuing series on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local businesses and organizations. A commentary by the two managing partners at Westcoast Appliance Gallery, where Fred Aram is also CEO and Byron Loucks is president.

The Better Business Bureau Vancouver Island is bracing for a rise in loan scams, as financial pressures mount amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

International student enrolment has nose-dived due to the global pandemic and public school teachers are facing layoffs as school districts across the region scramble to offset millions of dollars in lost revenue.

A local state of emergency in Alert Bay could be lifted as early as Friday if the number of new cases of COVID-19 remains low, says Dr. Dan Cutfeet of the 鈥楴amgis Health Centre.