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HEALTH-VIRUS-CANADA-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY
Canadian foreign minister tests negative for coronavirus
MONTREAL, March 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-
Phillipe Champagne, who had self-isolated after experiencing flu symptoms,
has not contracted the coronavirus, he said Friday.
“My #COVID19 test results came back negative,” he said on Twitter.
Champagne, 49, announced on Thursday that he had placed himself in
isolation and had been tested for the coronavirus as a precaution after
experiencing flu-like symptoms less than 14 days after returning from a trip
abroad.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 48, also has been in isolation for a week
after his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for the coronavirus
and was placed in quarantine.
Two other government ministers also had been isolated as a precaution in
recent weeks, but they too tested negative for the COVID-19 virus.
As of early Friday, Canada had 870 confirmed cases of the virus and 12
deaths, according to official figures released by provincial authorities.
The governments of several countries — Spain, France, Britain, Iran,
Poland, Norway and Morocco — have one or more members affected by the virus,
which has spread around the world since emerging in China in late 2019.
BSS/AFP/RY/1830 hrs