Justin Trudeau says he’ll take COVID-19 antibody test once available

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says once there’s a test widely available to see who has had COVID-19, he’ll take it.

Trudeau was exposed to the novel coronavirus earlier this year via his wife, who likely contracted it during a trip to England, but the prime minister never showed any symptoms.

He was never tested himself — at the time, testing was limited to those who were symptomatic.

But testing is slowly becoming available now that can detect whether a person has previously had COVID-19, even if they showed no symptoms.

Trudeau says that test will be an important part of understanding how the illness has been present in Canada, especially among those who never showed signs.

The federal government is currently ramping up the ability of Canada’s health care system to both test for current cases of COVID-19 and past ones.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2020. 

The Canadian Press