HALIFAX Karen Turpin was shocked when she suddenly learned last week that her long-time friend, Sherry Slaunwhite, had died at home of COVID-19. I want people to take this COVID very seriously, she says from her apartment. It s not a joke. Turpin herself is in self-isolation, waiting for the result of her COVID-19 test, after learning about a possible exposure to the virus on a Halifax Transit bus. It was on another bus that Turpin last saw her friend about two weeks ago. She looked so happy and out there, and I would never suspect that she would come in contact with COVID and die from it.