COVID-19: Canada Prime Minister unsure if his kids would return as schools reopen

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he did not know if he would send his children back to school in the province worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Quebec has seen more than half the country’s 60,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 60 percent of Canada’s 3,700 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The provincial […]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he did not know if he would send his children back to school in the province worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

Quebec has seen more than half the country’s 60,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 60 percent of Canada’s 3,700 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The provincial government has announced the voluntary reopening of primary schools and nurseries next week after weeks of closure, in a decision that has divided parents.

Trudeau’s three children attend a French-speaking school — which remains closed — in Ontario province.

But quizzed by public broadcaster Radio-Canada on Sunday, he said he was unsure whether he would be willing to let them return to class if they were enrolled in adjacent Quebec.

“It’s going to be an extremely personal decision for all parents,” he said.

The prime minister said he would make a decision on allowing his children to go back to school “probably at the last minute”, after considering class sizes and teacher attitudes.

Trudeau has been in self-isolation with his family in their official home of Rideau Cottage in Ottowa, Ontario, after his wife Sophie Gregoire was infected with the virus in March. (AFP)