Canada’s Justin Trudeau isolating after COVID-19 exposure

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday that he had been exposed to COVID-19 and was isolating at home.

“Last night, I learned that I have been exposed to COVID-19,” the prime minister said in a tweet on Thursday. “I feel fine and will be working from home. Stay safe, everyone – and please get vaccinated.”

He added that he would follow Ottawa Public Health’s policy and isolate for five days.

Canada is currently listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the highest travel risk category, or “Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19.”

The Coronavirus Resource Center for Johns Hopkins University reported that the country has seen a record high for new COVID-19 cases this month with over 907,000 new cases in January, a surge likely powered by the highly contagious omicron variant. 

Last month, Canada announced that it would reinstate a testing requirement for travelers returning to the country after traveling abroad. Specifically, the country said it would require people returning from short term travel to show negative COVID-19 results from a PCR test.

But Trudeau also urged its residents against non-essential travel in December saying that “now is not the time to travel.”

“If you’re planning to travel outside of Canada for the holidays, please, change your plans. Let’s be clear: with the emergence of the Omicron variant and its spread around the world, now is not the time for non-essential international travel,” Trudeau said on Twitter at the time.