Horwath, Schreiner test positive for virus
Results come shortly after four major party leaders debated in person
COVID-19 is jolting the June 2 election.
Two of the four major party leader have tested positive for COVID-19, upending the Ontario campaign as it enters the final fortnight. Both New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner are isolating after positive tests.
But Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford and Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca have tested negative.
The four leaders shared a debate stage Monday night at TVO in Toronto in their final encounter before the election.
Horwath cancelled a scheduled northern campaign swing Thursday morning after testing positive shortly before she was to board a charter flight to Sault Ste. Marie and then Thunder Bay.
“I feel like I have a bit of a bug,” Horwath said via Zoom from a hotel room in Ottawa to a campaign event in the Sault, where she appeared on a TV screen with a local candidate as the NDP was endorsed by the United Steelworkers Union.
She told reporters she was fight“It’s ing “a headache and a sore throat. Not really bad, though.
“I’m taking Tylenol and that kind of takes the fever down,” she said. “I’m certainly not 100 per cent.”
The NDP leader planned to continue remotely with at least some of her other scheduled events on Thursday and the following days.
Horwath had been in close quarters with Schreiner during the 90minute debate, which was moderated by the Star’s Althia Raj and TVO’s Steve Paikin. Both moderators are feeling fine.
Schreiner tested positive Wednesday.
At the TVO debate, the leaders were all masked until they stood behind their podiums in the studio.
“I don’t know where I caught the virus,” Horwath said, lamenting the impact on her campaign and expressing hope some northern Ontario campaign stops can be added in to her schedule before the vote.
very troubling this happened.”
Western University professor Cristine de Clercy, director of the school’s leadership and democracy lab, noted it’s “very unusual” for two leaders to be ill at the same time, but these are COVID-19 times.
“This is not a good point in the campaign for this to happen” because voters typically start to pay attention in the last week or two, she said,
The professor added the only worse time to test positive would have been just before the debate, keeping them out of it, and said the infections “undercut” Ford’s messaging that it’s time to move ahead despite the persistent, lingering spread of the virus following an end to most public health restrictions.
In Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ford, who is fully vaccinated and not experiencing any symptoms, told reporters he tested himself “out of an abundance of caution” and it was negative.
“We’re following all the protocols from Dr. Moore,” he said, referring to Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.
“I encourage everyone across Ontario … (if) you have symptoms, please get tested.”
Campaign officials said later that everyone on Ford’s bus and in the PC “war room” in Toronto’s Distillery District tests daily and must show proof of a negative test.
Del Duca, who also tested negative Thursday morning, said he would monitor himself closely for symptoms and test daily.
He added that the risk of COVID-19 is why most of his campaign events are outdoors, often in parks.
“This is a good reminder that though we all want to be on the other side of this pandemic, that there are still risks … we can’t simply just pretend that everyone is fine,” the Liberal leader said.
Indeed, the NDP campaign had to scuttle a northern tour that included a flying visit to Sandy Lake First Nation.
Schreiner says he tested positive on a rapid test Wednesday evening after close contact with a staff member.
In a statement, the Green leader said he is fully vaccinated and “feeling fine.”
He said he would campaign remotely from home “for a few days” while following public health advice.
Ontario’s current public health rules require people isolate for five days after COVID-19 symptoms first appear or after a positive test result, whichever comes first.