Red Zone

A health-care worker dons a respirator-style mask before entering a red (COVID-19 positive) intensive care unit at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Looking ahead: The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Manitoba’s health-care system in the future

Hope is on the horizon for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were administered on Wednesday, with a total of 900 health-care workers receiving the first of two doses by the end of the week. While it will take well until 2021 until more Manitobans can be vaccinated, those on the front lines are looking at the way the health-care system is currently being impacted, and what changes could be coming in the future.

The medical intensive care unit at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (POOL: MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Saying goodbye: How the COVID-19 pandemic has changed Manitoba's end-of-life care

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.