Alberta Premier Jason Kenney will not be isolating after a meeting with Quebec’s premier, who is currently self-isolating after coming into contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, this week.
The positive case is Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, who got the news late Friday, hours after Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet issued a statement that he, too, had tested positive.
Kenney’s connection to O’Toole is due to the fact that he met with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Quebec Premier Francois Legault on Friday.
So far, none of the premiers at that meeting have symptoms, but Legault said late Friday that he had met with O’Toole earlier in the week and would be isolating and getting tested.
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Then, on Saturday, Legault said his test results came back negative for COVID-19.
However, in a message posted to his Facebook page, Legault said he would remain in isolation until Sept. 28 in accordance with public health guidelines.
A statement from Kenney’s office said that Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, did not recommend isolation.
“Proper protocols were maintained during the premiers’ meeting in Ottawa,” said a statement from Kenney’s press secretary Christine Myatt. “Premier Kenney met with Premier Legault but did not meet with Erin O’Toole.
“Premier Legault is not symptomatic from what we understand, and Dr. Hinshaw does not recommend isolating merely because one met with an asymptomatic contact.”
In a statement Friday evening, a spokesperson for Ford said that he wouldn’t be getting tested as he didn’t “come into close contact” with Legault and that “they were masked except when seated and physically distanced at all times.”
Pallister said he and his team are self-monitoring for symptoms.
–With files from The Canadian Press
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