Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is beginning 14 days of self-isolation after his wife tested positive for the new coronavirus.
First Lady Sophie Gregoire Trudeau is also in quarantine after announcing the diagnosis on Thursday evening.
“Although I’m experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of the virus, I will be back on my feet soon,” she said in a statement released by the PM’s office.
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“Being in quarantine at home is nothing compared to other Canadian families who might be going through this and for those facing more serious health concerns.”
She began experiencing flu-like symptoms on Wednesday evening after returning from a speaking engagement in London.
Her husband’s office says that he remains “in good health with no symptoms”, but will be working from home for two weeks “as a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors”.
The decision comes after two members of his cabinet – Trade Minister Mary Ng and Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan – announced this week that they were choosing to self-isolate.
Trudeau’s quarantine measures have derailed “a planned meeting with premiers to discuss the economic fallout from the coronavirus and the recent plunge in oil prices”, says The Guardian.
As a country that relies heavily on the export of fossil fuels, concerns are mounting that Canada is “precariously close to a recession”, the newspaper adds.
A total of 158 coronavirus cases had been confirmed in Canada as of Friday morning, with one death, according to real-time statistics site Worldometer.
Political leaders in several countries around the world are also confirmed to have been infected with the virus, says USA Today.
In Brazil, Fabio Wajngarten, a senior adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro, has tested positive just days after meeting with Donald Trump at the US leader’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Trump is “very concerned” about coming into contact with anyone who may be carrying the new coronavirus, according to CNN.
In Iran, at least 23 members of the country’s Parliament have the virus. In Italy, Nicola Zingaretti, leader of the country’s Democratic Party, has tested positive.
The UK’s junior health minister Nadine Dorries announced earlier this week that she has the virus too. Dorries attended a reception with the PM and his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds in Downing Street last Thursday.
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