WINNIPEG --
More than 500 Manitobans have died from COVID-19. It's a grim statistic that is taking a toll on the province's health-care system and the staff dealing with a wave of deaths they haven't experienced before.
Dan Picca said his mother Shirley is among the hundreds of Manitobans who have died related to COVID-19 in recent weeks. The 70-year-old woman died on December 4 after weeks of battling the disease on a ventilator.
Shirley had been a cashier at the Food Fare on Maryland Street in Winnipeg for more than a decade and had become a staple in the community.
"I had no idea that the community knew her and made her feel like part of the community," Picca said. "I'm getting comments from people I haven't seen since high school like 25 years ago, saying 'That was your mom. I had no idea. She was part of our family. I used to go to Food Fare just to see her'."