COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the US and India but the numbers for BC are being tackled. BC Health Minister Adrian Dix worried about the jump in cases in certain US states. Worldwide there have been 7.1 million cases of the new coronvirus.
The Canadian economy lost an unprecedented one million jobs in March — the worst recorded single-month change — as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, lifting the unemployment rate to 7.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. The loss is eight times worse than the previous one-month record, yet economists warned it will likely be even worse in April, when the impact of physical distancing practices and other measures became clearer and millions of Canadians began receiving emergency federal aid.
B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but it's going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.'s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from five per cent in March.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says while he hopes to spend some time with his family this Easter weekend, his focus is on getting new emergency aid legislation passed. He says discussions with opposition parties continue on the bill, which backs up the new wage subsidy program. Trudeau says it is important to debate the democratic processes that could be put in place in the COVID-19 era, which the opposition wants to have.
Libraries across British Columbia are getting $3 million to enhance their digital services.The Ministry of Education says the one-time investment will permit greater access to online learning and reading resources.
A Boy Scout from Maple Ridge, British Columbia is getting world-wide attention for using his 3D printer to create "ear gears" for surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Heather Roney says her 12-year-old son, Quinn Callander, has created several hundred of them from home so far and donated them to health-care workers around the world. The device, which goes behind the head and is also called an ear guard, has hooks that attach to the straps of a mask and help take the pressure off the backs of the ears.
