VICTORIA -- Finance Minister Carole James is to comment later today on British Columbia's unemployment rate which Statistics Canada says rose to 7.2 per cent in March from five per cent in February.

The agency reports the COVID-19 crisis cost more than one million jobs across the country last month, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.8 per cent

Economists say about 132,000 B.C. workers were affected.

The leap in unemployment - the greatest change in national jobless figures in more than 40 years - comes as Premier John Horgan prepares to announce mental-health supports available during the pandemic.

There are also growing concerns about the health of vulnerable residents, including those on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, as B.C. has now recorded 48 deaths among 1,336 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and BC/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors both issued statements calling for better protection for the homeless and people in crowded shelters or prisons.

The drug war survivors organization says residents in high-risk areas, including the homeless and prisoners, deserve the same level of attention as that offered to seniors in long-term care homes.

Erica Thomson, association president, called the response in some areas shameful.

“Vulnerable communities urgently need testing, resources for food, accommodation, and personal protective equipment for peer health-care workers who risk (their) lives to help people stay safe,” she said in the statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020