Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn’t need to be tested for COVID-19 — even though his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau was diagnosed with the disease — if he isn’t showing any symptoms, experts say.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn’t need to be tested for COVID-19 — even though his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, was diagnosed with the disease — if he isn’t showing any symptoms, experts say.
“Certainly for people asymptomatic, we do not recommend testing,” said Colin Lee, a specialist in public health and infectious disease. “But I could certainly see that people in position of power may want testing. And that might happen. But it’s certainly not the medical and public health recommendation.”
Testing is only indicated for those who are symptomatic, he said.
According to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people are thought to be most contagious when they are most symptomatic. Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms — there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but it is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
On Thursday night, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement that Grégoire Trudeau, who had recently attended an event in London, U.K., had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and will remain in isolation.
Trudeau, as a precautionary measure, will also stay in iso