Amidst outbreak, Snuneymuxw First Nation receives Moderna vaccine

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Wednesday COVID-19 update

COVID-19 numbers are on the rise in the Island Health region, with 28 new cases being reported today. Island Health is also reporting an exposure at Chemainus Secondary School that happened on Monday. There are 148 active cases of the virus in our health region. Province-wide, there have been 625 new COVID-19 infections confirmed over the past 24 hours and 8 deaths. There are outbreaks at 52 care homes, including Malaspina Long Term care in Nanaimo. 10 hospitals are also dealing with outbreaks but none is in the Island Health region.

Amidst outbreak, Snuneymuxw receives Moderna vaccine

Residents of the Snuneymuxw First Nation are receiving COVID-19 vaccines today, in the wake of an outbreak of 19 cases of the virus. The nation requested the vaccine after issuing a shelter in place order and a ban on in-class instruction on new year's day. Today, the First Nations Health Authority delivered close to 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine to a pop-up clinic on the reserve. The nation says it will start with vaccinating elders and those at risk of developing severe symptoms from COVID-19. Front line workers will be next on the priority list followed by all local residents on a first-come, first-served basis. The pop-up clinic will run today and tomorrow. The Snuneymuxw was not on the original list for the first roll-out of vaccines to first nations in BC, but the outbreak hastened the response.

Snowboarder death at Mount Washington

The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating the death of a 22-year-old Victoria man who died Tuesday while snowboarding on Mount Washington. In a written statement, Mount Washington Alpine Resort says the man was snowboarding in bounds with four friends during a snowstorm Tuesday afternoon when he fell in open, intermediate terrain. His group told lift operators he had fallen and did not meet them at the bottom of the chairlift as they planned. The resort’s ski patrol and his friends found him unresponsive but with no obvious signs of trauma. They were unable to revive him.

Oxygen tank ignition suspected in Duncan fire that killed one and injured seven

The Victoria Times Colonist is reporting the man who died in a fire in Duncan on New Year's Eve is Gerry Dore, who is described as a loving grandfather who volunteered as an outreach worker for more than a decade. Last Thursday’s fire in a four-storey apartment on Lewis St. left Dore dead and sent seven people to the hospital. Witnesses say some jumped from upper-storey balconies, while others were rescued by fire crews. Dore's daughter Dawn Dore told the newspaper the fire is believed to have started in her father's fourth-floor suite. It’s suspected his oxygen tank ignited but she doesn’t know how or why that happened. Dawn says her dad was instantly recognizable from colourful tattoos on his face and arms. He spent 17 years as a tattoo artist, as well as 15 years as a volunteer with the Mustard Seed Foodbank. North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP say the fire is not suspicious, but have not released the cause. The BC Coroner's Service is investigating the death.