🎧 Get the Podcast right into your feed: Apple Podcasts / Google Play

📷 Health Minister Adrian Dix and Chief Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provide an update on COVID-19 on June 2, 2020 / via Province of British Columbia

There is good news on the COVID-19 front. There are no new deaths and just four new cases of the virus confirmed in the past 24 hours. The new cases are at two small offices in the Fraser Health Region. The Provincial Health Officer is praising the businesses that took quick action to identify the cases and ensure protocols were followed. Dr. Bonnie Henry says three other outbreaks at long term care homes are now over, as well as the outbreak at the Abbotsford Regional Hospital.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says BC can now use three million N95 type masks that have been declared safe for use. Dix says the masks came from a new supplier in China and had not been tested before. Previously, BC relied on masks made by 3M, but that supply has dried up, because of increased worldwide demand and US restrictions on their export. Dix says the new masks put the province in a good position for performing cancelled surgeries and preparing for a second wave of the virus in the fall.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit is investigating an apparent murder-suicide on Salt Spring Island. Police were called to a home on Fulford-Ganges Road at 5 p.m. on Monday. They found a 48-year-old man dead and a 41-year woman who later succumbed to her injuries. They are believed to be a husband and wife who were long time residents of the island. Police have not confirmed a murder-suicide but say they do not expect to charge anyone with the crime and the public is not at risk.

Playgrounds in Nanaimo and the regional district will reopen on Wednesday. They were closed in Mid-March due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Playground users are being asked to wash their hands before and after leaving and to bring hand sanitizer with them. The parks department is recommending people try to use the playgrounds at less busy times and to not share toys, food, water bottles or other personal items. The Regional District will erect signs, advising people that the playground equipment will not be washed or disinfected. The Maffeo-Sutton playground is being retrofitted and will reopen at a later date.

This update is made possible, thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Community Radio Fund of Canada, and Heritage Canada. If you would like to support and grow local news programming, please consider making a sustaining donation for as little as $3.50 a month. You can do that at chly.ca/donate.

Written and reported by Lisa Cordasco, News Director for CHLY 101.7FM.

Have a tip? Email: news@chly.ca Find us on social media at Twitter: @lisacordasco / @chly1017FM

Funded by Sustaining Donors and the Community Radio Fund of Canada and Heritage Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative. Sustain CHLY’s News Department for many years to come by signing up for a monthly Sustaining Donation.