Trudeau says he’s ‘proud’ Canadians stepping up to challenge of COVID-19

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking a measure of satisfaction from early indications that Canada’s COVID-19 caseload is not on the same trajectory as that in the United States.

While the impact of Canada’s latest efforts to curb the spread won’t be clear for another week or two, Trudeau says he’s proud that Canadians appear to be taking seriously the need to stay home and keep their distance from others.

South of the border, a slow federal response, delays in testing and a shortage of equipment have conspired to make the U.S. the current epicentre of the outbreak, with nearly 150,000 cases and 2,500 deaths.

President Donald Trump often claims that things would have been far worse in the U.S. had he not slammed the door back in January on travellers from China, where the pandemic originated.  

Trudeau, meanwhile, says he has no regrets about the time it took the federal government to impose stringent restrictions on international travel, which didn’t happen until mid-March.

He says no government is going to get everything right in an unprecedented situation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2020.

The Canadian Press