FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau leave Rideau Hall after asking Governor General Julie Payette to dissolve Parliament, and mark the start of a federal election campaign in Canada, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 11, 2019.
The wife of Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada has been tested positive for the novel coronavirus after she went on a trip to the United Kingdom.
On Thursday evening, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau made an announcement that she was tested positive for COVID-19, a disease that emerged in Wuhan, China late in 2019 and is now considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. Sophie also announced her plans to remain in isolation for two weeks and noted that she was only exhibiting mild symptoms.
Furthermore, Sophie also said that despite feeling uncomfortable with the virus's symptoms she believes that she will soon be back on her feet. She also expressed her concern for all other Canadian families who are facing more serious health concerns saying that amid her condition is light compared to theirs, even if she was being quarantined.
Canadian Prime Minister to Self-Quarantine.
After his wife contracted the disease, fears sparked that the Prime Minister has also harbored the virus. However, according to his office, the Prime Minister Trudeau is in good health and is not exhibiting any symptoms of the disease.
Nevertheless, in efforts to mitigate and control the spread of the disease Trudeau will be self-isolating as well for the next 14 days. Despite this, he still plans to work remotely from his home and will also address the country from there.
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COVID-19 and Canada's oil and economic fallout
Trudeau has previously planned to have a meeting with the provincial and territorial premiers regarding the plunging oil prices and economic fallout brought by the coronavirus pandemic, which has also been canceled due to the evolving situation of COVID-19
There have been concerns raised about the possibility of Canada falling into a recession after oil prices plunged due to the country's economy relying heavily on fossil fuel exports. The government has announced on Wednesday that they have a billion-dollar plan to address the concerns about the continued spread of the virus, which included additional medical research funding. However, due to Trudeau's self-isolation, he and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has made plans to speak with provincial leaders via phone conference instead.
Other Canadian Officials also on self-isolation
Trudeau's decision to self-isolate after his wife became positive, comes after the announcement of two other cabinet members to self-quarantine. Natural resources minister Seamus O'Reagan and Trade Minister Mary Ng both decided to isolate themselves with the same efforts to control the virus spread after they both attended a large mining conference where another attendee was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Toronto. All the 25,000 participants in the said symposium were asked by health officials to self-isolate and monitor any symptoms of coronavirus.
In addition, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party also chose to go on self-quarantine after falling ill. He posted on Twitter that he already went to the doctor and was advised that he did not have any symptoms which were consistent to COVID-19, however, he was also advised to limit his public contact.
Up to this day, Canada has reported 140 confirmed cases and one fatality due to coronavirus. On Thursday, there were 17 new cases that were announced in Ontario. Officials, however, have noted that the new cases did not appear to spread through the community and were rather on people who have recently traveled.
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