Canada’s health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, says he tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday morning.
In a tweet, Duclos says he’ll be isolating for 10 days as per public health guidelines.
While isolation requirements vary widely across Canada due to local situations, most provinces only require five days of isolation for fully vaccinated people that test positive for the novel coronavirus. Those who live in high-risk situations or are immunocompromised may have to isolate for 10 days.
The news comes just a day after the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced that Canadian provinces and territories will stop receiving shipments of COVID-19 rapid tests by the end of 2022.
With COVID-19 activity dropping in several parts of the country, PHAC said its response to the COVID-19 is entering a new phase.
Though it is cutting shipments, Ottawa will maintain a strategic reserve of 100 million rapid tests, of which 50 million will be earmarked for provinces and territories while the other 50 million will be held to address “general surge requirements,” PHAC told Global News in an email Friday.
— With files from Aaron D’ Andrea