COVID-19 kills Manitoba couple

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This article was published 25/11/2020 (1934 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tributes have poured in for a Ste. Anne couple who lost their lives to COVID-19 this month.

Monique Buote, 55, and Perry Buote, 57, had been married 33 years. Monique worked in the Southern Health region as a home-care worker in a small community east of Winnipeg, while Perry was retired. The couple left behind two grown children, Adam and Jesslyn.

This month, according to a Facebook post from Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Michelle Gawronsky, both lost their lives to COVID-19. Monique died on Nov. 3, Gawronsky wrote, and Perry succumbed to the virus just over two weeks later, on Nov. 19. 

The couple is remembered by family and friends as generous and kind-hearted. Monique’s co-workers, who shared their condolences on social media, remember her as fun, always able to make those around her laugh. She was loved by those at the care home where she worked. 

In her post, Gawronsky said one of the couple’s children has special needs, and she admonished those who flout COVID-19 restrictions as the virus takes a sobering toll on the community.

“Their children, one with special needs, have lost both their parents to this heinous virus within 16 days,” Gawronsky wrote. “Again, I ask the folks that don’t think it is important, to wear a face mask, wash your hands and keep your distance to step up and volunteer to help!”

Two health-care workers in Manitoba have died from the virus. On Nov. 6, 61-year-old Jean Claude Dianzenza, who worked at the Victoria General Hospital as a health-care aide, died.