Public-health officials are asking all British Columbians to get their influenza and COVID-19 immunizations as soon as possible, as rates of respiratory illnesses are on the rise throughout the province.

The Province is taking steps to build safer workplaces for health-care workers and patients by introducing a new security model across all health authorities, hiring more protection services employees and expanding funding to SWITCH BC, a new organization focused on addressing workplace safety.

People accessing health care in the Lower Mainland will benefit from more stable, consistent and supportive patient care as 194 housekeeping and food-service workers return to the public system as Fraser Health employees.

People in B.C. now have an easier way to access their health records with the launch of the Health Gateway mobile app.

A full return to school for students in kindergarten to Grade 12 will be delayed until Monday, Jan. 10, in order to give public health and B.C. schools additional time to adapt to the impacts of the Omicron variant on communities and schools, and to implement enhanced safety plans to support the continuation of in-class learning.