Winnipeg Free Press
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Students Yuan Eusbeio (left), 16, and Kenneth Besyk in the West End on what might end up being the last day of school for the year if the pandemic numbers get worse in Manitoba.
Uncertain if it would be his last day ever in a public school classroom, Grade 12 student Kenneth Besyk planned to make Tuesday “as memorable as possible.”
Uncertain if it would be his last day ever in a public school classroom, Grade 12 student Kenneth Besyk planned to make Tuesday as memorable as possible.
Within the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, that meant making ample small talk with mask-wearing classmates before the final bell rang at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute signalling the end of in-person classes until at least May 30.
To most of us, they are anonymous numbers in a grim and ongoing count.
But each one represents one of the more than 900 Manitoba lives lost over the past year to COVID-19.
Many have gone without a published obituary marking their loss. Without family and friends able to gather to grieve at a funeral and, later, celebrate their memories.
Manitoba’s first positive case was announced March 12, followed by three more the next day. The first COVID-19 hospital admission occurred March 17, and the province declared a state of emergency on March 20. We’re in this together and we’re grieving together, Mayor Brian Bowman said then. Our deepest condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.
Faces of the pandemic: A look at the lives of 10 Manitobans lost to COVID-19 winnipegfreepress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from winnipegfreepress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.