Afternoon Update for March 30th, 2020.

NANAIMO —There have been 86 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in BC since Saturday with seven new cases on Vancouver Island. The total number of cases in the Island Health district is 67. The total for the province is 970. Dr. Bonnie Henry says there have been two COVID-19 deaths on the lower mainland since Saturday. She says the good news is 469 people who were infected have now recovered including 70 people who were in intensive and critical care in hospitals.

Meanwhile, the BC Coroners Service has confirmed the first COVID-19 death in the community. The coroner's service has not identified the man, but media reports say he was a dentist who died in his home after attending a dental conference in Vancouver in early March. All the other coronavirus deaths have occurred in care homes or in hospitals.

The Vancouver Island Regional Library is warning people they may have been exposed to COVID-19 if they visited its South Cowichan Branch on a number of days earlier this month. The notice says anyone at the branch on Mill Bay Road on March 11, 12, 13, 16th or 17th may have been exposed It says Island Health considers the risk to be equivalent as going to a grocery store and is not planning an investigation. Anyone experiencing symptoms should self-isolate for 14 days and call 8-1-1 to report it. The BC Centres for Disease Control has a self-assessment tool online at bccd.ca/health-info.

It's the end of March break, but students are not heading back to their classrooms. Instead the Ministry of Education is referring parents to an online resource for learning at home. It's called Keep Learning in BC. Teachers who have returned to work are currently planning how they can deliver lessons online or assignments through email, Parents can expect a call from their children's teacher this week, once details for at home learning have been worked out. Individual schools are also creating plans to allow students to return to their school buildings to pick up items they left behind before March break.

The Nanaimo Regional District is reminding residents that outdoor watering restrictions will kick in on April the first. The district says a drier than normal February and March means the snowpack is lower than average. In Nanaimo, Lantzville, Qualicum Beach and Bowser, residents can only water between 7 pm until 7 am. In all other water service areas, the restrictions mean watering is allowed on even days for even-numbered houses and on odd days for odd-numbered houses. Watering is permitted for a maximum of two hours between 7 till 10 am or 7 to 10 pm. Vegetable gardening and drip irrigation is allowed at any time.

The regional district is also reminding residents, there is a ban on outdoor burning and all burning permits for larger acreages have been cancelled.

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Lisa Cordasco

Senior Reporter and News Director — Lisa is responsible for creating the station's first morning news current affairs show on CHLY. She is also deeply involved in training and mentoring student and citizen journalists who volunteer their time at the station. Before joining CHLY, Lisa spent 35 years in various roles at CBC Radio, from host to reporter. Her passion for journalism and radio has led her to Nanaimo, where she intends to provide CHLY listeners with news they can use, in an alternative radio environment. Her other not-so-secret passion is costuming for any occasion.

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