OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he plans to continue working from home, even though his required 14-day self-isolation period is up, on the advice of doctors.

Trudeau and his family entered quarantine at Rideau Cottage on March 12, anticipating a COVID-19 test result for his wife Sophie, who was experiencing symptoms after returning from London, England. Her test results later came back positive.

While she has since been said to be feeling much better, and both he and their children remain symptom-free, Trudeau said Friday that he is happy to remain at his residence, given he is asking Canadians to work from home as much as possible.

“The doctors continue to tell us to stay in self-isolation. But at the same time, we're asking Canadians to work from home wherever possible, we're asking people to stay self- isolated as much as possible, to not go out if not necessary. And I am happy to continue to do this,” Trudeau said.

His decision to continue to work from home comes as Canadians across the country also round out what for many has been their second week of doing the same, or self-isolating and heeding physical-distancing advice.

Trudeau has been holding daily press conferences from outside his residence where major policy announcements continue to be made, and has been conducting meetings with domestic and international counterparts via the phone and video conference, including regular cabinet meetings and bilateral discussions with other world leaders who are also grappling with the impacts of the pandemic.

Speaking to his latest projections for how long the pandemic is going to force much of society to be shut down, Trudeau said that if people are diligent and take this seriously, then Canada will have to continue to abide by the current public health parameters for a shorter period. 

“There are obviously many, many different projections of how long this could last, how serious this could be, how many cases we could be facing. But those projections, all hinge on choices that Canadians are making today, choices they made over the past few days, choices they will be making over the coming few days,” Trudeau said.

“We will be able to say more about how many weeks or months this lasts for, as we see the impacts of the behaviours that people have engaged over these days. But I am very optimistic that we're going to get through this… Because Canadians do what they need to do to be there for each other, and to keep us all safe.” 

In a briefing following the prime minister’s address, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo indicated that Canada will be “in it for the long haul.”

“It’s not going to be days and weeks, it’s definitely months. Many months,” he said.