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Celebrating Lunar NewYear
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THURSDAY JANUARY 12, 2023 LOCAL NEWS – LOCAL MATTERS
HEALTH CARE
Hospital reacts to surge in demand
Emergency operations centre activated at Royal Columbian Glen Korstrom Glacier Media
Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster is reactivating its emergency operations centre in response to the continued surge in respiratory illness in the province. The province is reactivating the emergency operation centres (EOCs) at 20 of the province’s largest hospitals for at least the next six weeks to bolster the health-care system at a time when hospital occupancy is rising, Health Minister Adrian Dix announced last Friday (Jan. 6). He called the move a “proactive step” and said that there are no plans to reduce surgeries to add more hospital capacity. Dix said that as of Jan. 5, there were 10,226 people in B.C. acute-care hospital wards across the province — more than there had been for months. B.C. has 9,202 regular, or “base,” hospital beds as well as 2,478 “surge” Continued on page 5
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Elaine Su, a teacher-librarian and New Westminster’s 2022 Citizen of the Year, leads a Mandarin storytime for families at
New Westminster Public Library. The Jan. 7 storytime was part of a lineup of Lunar New Year events in New West. Check out page 9 for how to celebrate the coming Year of the Rabbit, which begins Jan. 22. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
SkyTrain stabbing leads to arrest
A person was rushed to hospital with “significant but non-life-threatening injuries” after a stabbing inside a SkyTrain car in New West last week. Metro Vancouver Transit Police responded to reports of
a fight on board a train at Columbia SkyTrain station on Wednesday, Jan. 4, according to a transit police spokesperson. When officers arrived, they found one person suffering from apparent stab wounds,
police said. A press release from the New Westminster Police Department, which took over the investigation, says that within minutes of police containing the scene at the SkyTrain station, a NWPD patrol officer
recognized someone matching the suspect’s description, and arrested a male suspect on Fourth Street. Police ask any witnesses who have yet to speak to investigators to call the NWPD at 604-525-5411.
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