Six members of Trudeau’s team test positive for Covid as Canada reports record cases

Six members of Justin Trudeau’s team tested for positive for Covid-19, the Canadian Prime Minister revealed on Wednesday, even as the country reported a record number of fresh infections.

While he is not in self-isolation, Trudeau is limiting himself to virtual engagement after three members of his staff and three in his security details tested positive for the coronavirus.

The result of Trudeau’s rapid antigen tests was negative, however, he said, “Following public health guidelines, I’m being careful about everything I do.”

This development came even as Canada reported 14,988 new cases on Wednesday, according to the outlet CTV News, a record for new cases since the pandemic began last year.

This did not include cases from the Northwest Territories, meaning that the total could be higher. The previous record high was 13,670 cases reported on December 28 last year, according to Esri Canada.

The spiralling caseload is likely driven by the new more transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19, and health authorities have already confirmed that community transmission of the variant has started in Canada.

“In less than a week, we’ve seen a rapid acceleration of epidemic activity in locations across Canada. While Delta is still spreading in many areas, Omicron is increasingly responsible for rapidly rising case counts,” Canada’s chief public health officer Dr Theresa Tam said late Wednesday.

“Modelling shows that by the beginning of January, we could have a very high number of cases, which underscores the need to act urgently to reduce the acceleration,” Tam added.

The current surge in cases includes record daily highs being reported from the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia.