A look back at the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba through photos

It's been over five years since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Manitoba, marking the beginning of the province's experience of the global pandemic.

That pandemic changed what life looked like across Manitoba, from empty downtown streets and care home visits done through windows to remote learning and protests against pandemic restrictions.

It also resulted in the deaths of thousands of Manitobans. As of March 6, the province had reported a total of 3,821 COVID-19-related deaths — which includes deaths that happened 10 days before or 30 days after a lab-confirmed case, and patients who tested positive for COVID-19 but may have died of other causes, a provincial spokesperson said. 

Take a look back through some of the most striking photos of the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba.

On March 12, 2020, Manitoba reported its first presumptive cases of COVID-19, marking the beginning of the pandemic's effect on people's lives across the province.

In those early days, normally busy downtown intersections were suddenly quiet and Winnipeg's airport was virtually empty. The province soon declared a state of emergency and banned large gatherings.

Community spaces like libraries, parks, playgrounds and skate parks were quickly closed to the public.

Before long, people began stocking up on staples like toilet paper, leaving store shelves bare.

Soon, schools were closed too.

Signs aimed at health-care and other front-line or essential service workers began popping up in people's windows too, thanking them for the work they were doing during such an uncertain time.

After most businesses were forced to close their doors during Manitoba's first lockdown of the pandemic, many were allowed to slowly start reopening under strict guidelines later in the spring of 2020.

But not all rules were eased just yet. Visits inside long-term care homes were still restricted for some time, leaving loved ones like Sam and Shirley Kleiman to have their visits through a window.

Many COVID-19 test sites were soon in full swing, including drive-thru spots where lines of vehicles would often stretch down the block.

Later in the year, items considered non-essential — from toys to Christmas decorations to decorative paper plates — were blocked off in Manitoba stores, as new COVID-19 public health orders came into effect prohibiting their sale.

Later into the year, reporters got a rare look inside Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre as staff at the province's hospitals worked to care for Manitoba's most critically ill COVID-19 patients, many on ventilators.

As fall 2020 rolled around, many were making plans for mitigating the risk of COVID-19 as people were forced back inside during the colder months.

In schools, student desks were pushed apart or outfitted with cardboard partitions in what was far from a normal year.

At care homes, all-season outdoor shelters were intended to give families a space to visit.

Some who opposed the pandemic restrictions also started protesting against those rules around the end of 2020.

Once the first COVID-19 vaccines were approved and made their way to Manitoba, health-care workers were the first in line to get their shots before they were rolled out more broadly across the province.

Around the same time, outbreaks of COVID-19 were hitting some communities hard. In Shamattawa First Nation, a northern fly-in community, the military was called in to help.

In 2021, many Manitobans were getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at sites across the province.

Partway through the year, Manitoba hit a sombre milestone: more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths had been recorded across the province.

As COVID-19 cases began to rise again, many students in Manitoba were again forced into remote learning.

As businesses were allowed to reopen after another lockdown, it was with many strict rules in place — including capacity limits.

Going out into the world again after lockdowns ended often looked a little different. At nail salons, some staff wore personal protective equipment like face shields on top of their masks when they interacted with customers.

Protests against COVID-19 restrictions continued into 2021, including in Winnipeg and Steinbach, where some were opposed to vaccine rules and the vaccine passports being used at the time.

Protests against pandemic restrictions intensified in 2022, when people in semi-trailer trucks and other vehicles lined streets around the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg to call for an end to pandemic restrictions and vaccine mandates for truckers.

Similar convoy protests happened outside of Winnipeg too, travelling down highways and blocking the international border crossing.

Around the same time, Manitoba announced plans to phase out its pandemic restrictions. And as the World Health Organization declared the global COVID-19 emergency over in 2023, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin called on people to move forward.

"That doesn't mean that the pandemic is over," Roussin said at the time. "But I do think that we need to find ways to heal."