news // no. 4 BC renews state of emergency for another two weeks » COVID-19 restrictions extended till next month, fines for rule breakers increase - Please practice fi physical distancing and keep two = metres apart we A PLACE CANAD rca "4 ._ = Jessica Berget Assistant Editor e< eee Fe EE rere ee O46 OOO 6 oe eee ee ewe Photo by Billy Bui f your New Year’s resolution was to get out more, you may want to change your resolution. To ring in 2021, the BC government announced on January 5 (for the 22nd time) that they will be extending their state of emergency status for at least another two weeks. Additionally, BC Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that COVID-19 restrictions will also be extended until February 5. The first state of emergency announcement began in March and has been in place for 43 weeks now. This breaks BC’s record for the longest state of emergency held by more than four times. The extension allows health officials more power (under the BC Emergency Program Act) to enforce COVID-19 health orders in responding to the pandemic. The 2017 wildfires of BC caused the province to announce a state of emergency for 10 weeks. On top of that, Henry announced another extension on COVID-19 restrictions to early February in hopes of curbing the increase in reported cases. The extension includes all restrictions which bans all public and private social gatherings and events as well as any fitness and sports related activities, no socialization with people outside of their immediate household, and no non-essential travel. People living alone are allowed one or two people from their core theotherpress.ca socialization bubble, and essential workplaces and schools remain open. The gathering restrictions were first announced on November 7 for two weeks for Vancouver Coastal and Frasier Health areas, and were then extended on November 19 and expanded across the province. The announcement comes after BC recorded 761 new cases of COVID-19 on January 7 and eight more deaths which Henry says were all seniors living in long term care homes. Outbreaks of the virus continue to infiltrate 51 long terms care homes and 10 acute care establishments. Henry also suggests these restrictions may be extended again depending on the outcome of new cases in the next few weeks. On December 16, BC announced health enforcement measures to control the spread of the virus. Of these enforcement measures is included public enforcement officers supporting police to hand out fine and violation tickets in public when deemed necessary. In BC, people going against COVID protocol have so far accumulated over $500,000 worth of fines. A total of 103 $2,300 fines were issued to owners and organizers going against the provincial health orders, and 21 2,300-dollar tickets were distributed to those contravening the Food and Liquor Serving Premises Order. On top of that, 450 $230 tickets were given to those who refused to comply with law enforcement, and 77 violation tickets totalling $84,266 were handed out to individuals who were not complying with the federal Quarantine Act. Man charged with New Year's machete attacks in downtown Vancouver » VPD say incidents were unprovoked Jessica Berget Assistant Editor hile many Vancouverites were celebrating this holiday season, three random machete attacks occurred in the downtown area of Vancouver. The first incident involved a 29-year- old homeless man escaping serious harm outside of a Canadian Tire on Cambie Street on Christmas Eve. The second attack of a 52-year-old man took place on New Year’s Eve near Granville and Nelson, sending the victim to the hospital with head injuries. Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says the man was struck in the head by a man carrying a machete outside of a coffee house around 7 pm. The VPD reports another attack of a 26-year-old homeless man around the same location—this attack left the victim with facial injuries. Vancouver Police say these were unprovoked attacks and that there may be one or more victims who have yet to come forward. On January 6, a thirty-three-year- old man was charged with two of these attacks. Cruz Joseph was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, another two counts of assault bodily harm, and possession of a dangerous weapon in connection with the December 31 incidents. However, the December 24 event is still under investigation and VPD says it is unclear if the assaults are connected. While these types of violent attacks are rare, the VPD reports that the rate of some violent crimes went up last year, and possibly due to COVID-19. While Vancouver crime levels for 2019 and 2020 were similar, certain types of crime have increased and decreased in 2020. In fact, during the first six months of 2020, violent crimes went up 5.2 percent due to a rise of serious assaults. According to the VPD, serious assaults like aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, and assault with a weapon went up by 14 percent compared to last year. Other crimes like robberies have decreased six percent. The number of homicides in the city also went up in 2020 with 14 as compared to nine in 2019, and assaults against police officers have also gone up nearly 50 percent. Non-violent crimes like break-and- enters into businesses have increased by 18 percent, and arson has gone up by 39 percent. On the other hand, many crimes also decreased in comparison to 2019; robberies went down six percent, property Photo by Arnaldo Fragozo crime fell by 20 percent, theft from vehicles and shoplifting have gone down 37 percent and 26.6 percent respectively, and reports of sexual offences went down 5 percent.