Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 4, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A1 B ETHESDA, Md. — U.S. President Donald Trump went through a “very concerning” period Friday and faces a “critical” next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a mil- itary hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday — in contrast to a rosier as- sessment moments earlier by Trump doctors, who took pains not to reveal the president had received supple- mental oxygen at the White House before his hospital admission. Trump offered his own assessment Saturday evening in a video from Walter Reed National Military Medi- cal Center, saying he was beginning to feel better and hoped to “be back soon.” Hours earlier, chief of staff Mark Meadows said outside the hospital, “We’re still not on a clear path yet to a full recovery.” In an update on the president Saturday night, his chief doctor expressed cautious optimism but added the president was “not yet out of the woods.” The changing, and at times contra- dictory, accounts created a credibility crisis for the White House at a crucial moment, with the president’s health and the nation’s leadership on the line. With Trump expected to remain hospitalized several more days and the presidential election looming, his condition is being anxiously watched by Americans. Moreover, the president’s health represents a national security issue of paramount importance not only to the functions of the U.S. government but to countries around the world, friendly and otherwise. Saturday’s briefing by Navy Com- mander Dr. Sean Conley and other doctors raised more questions than it answered. Conley repeatedly refused to say whether the president ever needed supplemental oxygen, despite repeated questioning, and declined to share key details including how high a fever Trump had been running before it came back down to a normal range. Conley also revealed Trump had begun exhibiting “clinical indica- tions” of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known. Conley spent much of the briefing dodging reporters’ questions, as he was pressed for details. “Thursday no oxygen. None at this moment. And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said. According to a person familiar with Trump’s condition, Trump was admin- istered oxygen at the White House on Friday morning, well before he was transported to the military hospital by helicopter that evening. CONNECT WITH CANADA’S HIGHEST READERSHIP RATE WEATHER: MAINLY SUNNY. HIGH 13 — LOW 9 ® SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020 FOUNDED IN 1872 INSIDE COVID CLAIMS SENIOR A woman in her 80s is the latest Manitoban to die from the coronavirus / A3 GREEN DAY The Green Party of Canada has chosen Toronto’s Annamie Paul as its new leader / A4 JUSTICE FOR JOYCE Protesters demand justice for Indigenous woman mocked as she lay dying / A2 IT’S FAT BEAR WEEK With hibernation imminent, bears in Alaska are packing on the pounds / A8 Trump said to be improving, next 48 hours critical ● TRUMP CONTINUED ON A2 DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. David and Elizabeth Jasysyn celebrated their wedding anniversary Saturday by visiting Winnipeg’s downtown Bay store, the place David first summoned the courage to ask his wife of 39 years on a date. STOPPED in an aisle of the landmark downtown Hudson’s Bay Co., with a glossy wooden canoe on his right and striped apparel on his left, David Jasy- syn speaks with urgency behind a red cotton mask. It’s an important day, David ex- plains to a reporter: he and his wife Elizabeth are celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, the pair de- cided to take a Saturday stroll through the department store where their flame was first kindled. More than four decades ago, when the upper floors of the Bay were still stocked and downtown Winnipeg was a hub for retail shopping, David first caught a glimpse of Elizabeth at the adult learning centre where he was taking a course, not far from the Bay, and was smitten. Six months later he saw her again, this time outside the school dressed in graduation garb and congratulated her on the achievement, before heading inside without, regretfully, getting her name or number. It was on the fifth floor of the Bay, while browsing for books a few months later, that their paths crossed again. “I was looking at the books, and through the cracks of the books, there she was,” he says. “I said a prayer, and I asked God for the courage to ask her out. “And so I walked around, asked her out, and she said ‘OK,’” David says. After 39 years of marriage, and five children and two grandchildren, the Jasysyns returned Saturday after- noon to the sales floor, the same one where Elizabeth’s wedding band was purchased, to reminisce. In February, the 650,000-square- foot, 94-year-old store will be shut- tered. “We came through here today because we heard about the sad news that it would be closing, which we always figured it would, but you know it still hits you when it’s said it’s going to happen,” Elizabeth says. Officials with the company previ- ously told the Free Press the closure is in part driven by changing consumer habits in favour of online commerce and suburban malls. “The downtown Winnipeg Hudson’s Bay store is one of HBC’s ‘original six’ and has been a landmark in a city that has incredibly strong ties to HBC’s history,” Iain Nairn, president and CEO, Hudson’s Bay Co. told the Free Press Friday. A lifetime of memories made at the downtown Bay DANIELLE DA SILVA ● CONTINUED ON A3 Hidden treasures Celebrating 15 years of geocaching in Manitoba / A10 JONATHAN LEMIRE, JILL COLVIN AND ZEKE MILLER A_01_Oct-04-20_FP_01.indd A1 2020-10-03 10:36 PM ;