Vancouver police shut down private party with 100 attendees on New Year's Eve

Ian HollidayReporter, CTVNewsVancouver.ca @Ian_Holliday Contact
Published Friday, January 1, 2021 4:15PM PST
Last Updated Saturday, January 2, 2021 10:07AM PST

VANCOUVER -- Police in Vancouver say they found about 100 people at a private party at a downtown restaurant Thursday night, one of 34 calls for alleged violations of the provincial ban on gatherings officers responded to on New Year's Eve.

Vancouver police were called to the party near the intersection of Granville and Davie streets around 11 p.m., according to a news release from the Vancouver Police Department.

Officers broke up the closed-door event and issued a $2,300 ticket to the organizer for violating B.C.'s public health order banning gatherings.

The ticket was one of four police issued to event organizers for allegedly breaking the province's COVID-19 rules Thursday night.

Extra police officers were deployed to entertainment districts and to look out for impaired driving on New Year's Eve, police said.

In addition to the 34 calls about potential public health order violations, officers also dealt with a pair of assaults and arrested a woman at a protest at the Vancouver Art Gallery after she allegedly bit an officer. 

The first assault occurred around 6 p.m. near Granville and Helmcken streets, police said.

According to police, the suspect walked up to the victim, who he did not know, and slashed them in the face with a machete. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, and the suspect was arrested, police said.

The second assault was reported about an hour later, around 7 p.m.

In that incident, which happened near Granville and Davie streets, "the suspect put a metal object to the victim's neck and said, 'You are my enemy,'" police said.

The suspect and the victim were not known to each other, and officers were unable to locate the suspect, police said.

Finally, around 11:30 p.m., police were called to the art gallery because a protester was climbing on top of one of the statues there.

"While police were escorting her off the property, she bit one of the officers," police said in their release. "The woman was charged for assaulting a police officer."

Police did not attempt to break up the protest at the art gallery, a decision they said was based on the need for officers to "weigh a citizen’s right to peacefully protest with the current potential harm of gatherings."

“Mass arrests are not possible or desirable," the Vancouver Police Department said in a statement to CTV News. "Ticketing and arrests could escalate an already passionate situation, and when there are larger groups of people, the risk of injury to both protesters and police officers rises.” 

Wind, rainfall warnings issued for Metro Vancouver for Tuesday

CTVNewsVancouver.ca Staff
Contact
Published Monday, January 4, 2021 4:30PM PST

Environment Canada issued two warnings for wind and rain Monday afternoon, saying an intense front will approach Vancouver Island early Tuesday and move east.

VANCOUVER -- Tuesday is set to be wet and windy across Metro Vancouver.

Environment Canada issued two warnings Monday afternoon, saying an intense front will approach Vancouver Island early Tuesday and move east.

“This will bring rain and wind for most of Tuesday with the heaviest rain expected in the afternoon and evening,” the warning says.

Strong winds are set to begin around noon Tuesday and ease later in the evening. Speeds of around 70 km/h are expected near exposed coastal areas.

Heavy rain will also begin around late morning over the North Shore, Coquitlam and Maple Ridge. It's expected some areas could see up to 60 millimetres of rain by late evening.

Environment Canada is warning of possible localized flooding in low-lying areas.

The rain is set to end by early Wednesday morning.

Suspicious fire behind Delta thrift store under police investigation

Alyse Kotyk Reporter, CTVNewsVancouver.ca 
@AlyseKotyk Contact
Published Monday, December 28, 2020 11:11AM PST

Police in Delta say they're investigating a fire from Dec. 27, 2020. (Heather Fuhrman/Submitted)

VANCOUVER -- Police in Delta say they're investigating a suspicious fire that damaged a thrift store.

Officers were called to Delta Street near 48 Avenue in Ladner at about 11 Sunday night after a fire was started in a dumpster behind a building. 

The rear wall and roof of the building eventually caught fire before it was extinguished. The thrift store was most significantly impacted, but other nearby units were also damaged by smoke.

"Fortunately there was no one who had to be evacuated from the property, and no one was reported injured during this incident," said Cris Leykauf, spokesperson for Delta police, in a news release. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but police are calling the blaze suspicious. 

Anyone who was in the area and saw suspicious behaviour or anyone with dash cam video is asked to contact Delta police at 604-946-4411. 

Shoppers Drug Mart gauging interest in providing rapid COVID-19 testing to businesses

David MolkoSenior Reporter, CTV News Vancouver
@molkoreports Contact
Published Wednesday, December 16, 2020 1:35PM PST

VANCOUVER -- Pharmacy giant Shoppers Drug Mart has reached out to Canadian businesses to gauge interest in a COVID-19 rapid testing program that could launch as soon as January 2021.

The program, which the company’s “Health Solutions by Shoppers” division is exploring, is being pitched as a way for companies to bring employees back to work safely, according to a digital presentation slide obtained by CTV News Vancouver.

The slide, which says the program would be funded by employers with a minimum of a one-month commitment, promises COVID-19 results in 15 minutes, with positive results to be followed-up with PCR (laboratory) testing.

It indicates that Shoppers is considering using the Abbott COVID-19 Panbio Antigen test for the program, which Health Canada approved for use in October.

At the time, Ottawa signed a deal to obtain more than 20 million of the so-called “point-of-care” tests.

Catherine Thomas, senior director of external communications with parent company Loblaws, declined a CTV News request for an interview because, she said, the program is “not live.”

“Our health solutions team has been reaching out to some of our business partners to gauge their interest to understand if a program like this would be relevant to a broader group,” Thomas wrote in an email.

Thomas also explained the initial outreach was to a “few companies” and “at this point B.C. is not an area of focus.”

Infectious disease expert Dr. Brian Conway called the antigen test “very useful” and a “powerful tool to help us in the public health response,” indicating a similar test had been used as part of the NHL bubble.

Conway, who is the medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, said the antigen test is analogous to the “gold-standard” PCR tests currently being performed in British Columbia, but doesn’t require a lab to process.

But, Conway cautioned, the rapid test appears to be less “sensitive,” meaning in people who don’t have symptoms but have COVID-19, the test may only detect the infection about 70 per cent of the time.

Conway said the rapid test could be useful for employers to quickly track chains of transmission and isolate individuals, once an individual has tested positive by standard lab testing, but that he would not recommend companies use it as a health-screening tool.

Conway also pointed out that the results of any point-of-care test would need to be used wisely.

“The danger of using this test more widely, especially in people who have no symptoms, is that it will be taken as a license to not follow current public health recommendations,” Conway said.

He added that everyone should continue to follow all public health guidelines until at least a majority of people have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the manufacturer, Abbott, the test requires a nasal or nasopharyngeal swab, and a self-contained tube with a “break off” swab minimizes exposure risks.

Results appear in the form of lines on the display panel of a single-use cartridge within 15 minutes.