COVID-19 IN CANADIAN MEDIA A WEEKLY MEDIA SUMMARY FOR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORS For the week of JUNE 7 – JUNE 13, 2020 1 A NOTE TO THE READER This report reflects the findings of Canadian media coverage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus case and media trends which are the foundation of this analysis portend earned media opportunities in the days following the flattening of infection and mortality rates. Just as these rates change from one country to the next, so do the pace and extent of earned media opportunities. We do not assert our expertise in predicting the infections curves, but rather, suggest only conditionally that if the infection and media patterns in Canada reflect trends in other countries, we can expect certain pathways to emerge across all countries. As such, please consider these findings “directional” rather than “statistically significant”. Please keep in mind that both Coronavirus and media trends are shown at the national and provincial level, rather than local level. While certain locales may see infections and coverage continue to surge, other parts of the country may experience a flatter curve more quickly. As such, deceleration in one area within a country may offset local surges in another. Unless otherwise indicated, the data reflects Canadian coverage in aggregate. This report is a summary of Canadian earned This analysis features earned media coverage news media content only, published between from over 50,000 unique media outlets across June 7 and June 13, focused on discussions both traditional and digital media sources, related to COVID-19 and Coronavirus. The including: analysis is based on English and French media content. • Traditional Television • Traditional Radio • Traditional Print • Online / Web-based News EXECUTIVE SUMMARY National • On June 12, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the Canadian Armed forces would continue to assist in long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec until June 26. Trudeau also announced that passengers travelling by plane to, from or within Canada will have to undergo temperature screenings prior to boarding. • On June 11, the federal government announced $133 million in additional support to Indigenous businesses; $117 million to help community-owned Indigenous businesses and $16 million to support Indigenous tourism- related businesses. Western Canada • The City of Vancouver’s racial equity advisory committee declared that race-based COVID-19 data collection should be mandatory. The call for race-based data has been made by several public health and human rights advocates, as there is mounting evidence of structural inequities putting racialized communities in Canada at larger risk of coronavirus outbreaks. • On June 12, the province of Alberta moved to stage 2 of its reopening. Several businesses (i.e. movie theatres, aesthetic and cosmetic services), schools (for exams and summer school), and other community services reopened with mandatory public health requirements (i.e. two-meter physical distancing). • BC recorded no new COVID-19 deaths for the fifth consecutive day on July 10, however, the province released data revealing May was its deadliest month for illicit drug overdoses. BC officials attribute this spike in overdose deaths to COVID’s disruption of support services and drug supply chains. Ontario • On June 12, several jurisdictions in Ontario entered Phase 2 of reopening. Daycares, shopping malls, personal care services, restaurants and patios, beaches, water recreation facilities and several other areas all reopened with physical distancing and capacity restrictions. Social gatherings were increased to an exclusive group of 10 people where physical distancing is not necessary (“Bubbling”). • The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation raised concerns over risks related to opening schools in September during the COVID-19 pandemic, with calls for PPE, increased cleaning in classrooms, and more staffing as well as flexibility on curricula and other requirements. Quebec • Starting June 15 (or June 22 in Montreal), dine-in restaurants and other businesses permitted to serve food will be open. Social gatherings with 10 or fewer people are also permitted. Social distancing rules must still be adhered to, and surfaces are to be cleaned regularly. • Bill 61, designed to restart Quebec’s economy during the coronavirus pandemic, was met with stark resistance from opposition parties, described by Quebec MNA, Vincent Marissa, as “written on a napkin.” Among other things, Bill 61 would fast-track “essential” infrastructure projects, with opposition to the bill claiming it creates “favourable conditions for the emergence of corruption and collusion” (quote from Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade. Eastern Canada • Talks continue regarding an “Atlantic” bubble between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland, but no firm date or framework has been established. • On June 9th, Newfoundland and Labrador announced twelfth consecutive day with no new COVID-19 cases. Territories • On June 12, the Northwest Territories had their borrowing limits increased to $1.8 billion by the federal government. On the same day, Yukon announced bars would be reopened at 50% capacity on June 19 with 10 or fewer people per group. COVERAGE OVERVIEW TOTAL FOUND COVERAGE TOTAL POTENTIAL REACH SHIFT FROM LAST WEEK 165,352 55,159,707,026 -2% CANADIAN COVERAGE VOLUME TREND STAGE 4: WHO declares COVID-19 as a Pandemic STAGE 3: Death toll surpasses SARS; THIS WEEK 60K Increasing international cases; Diamond Princess quarantine 50K STAGE 2: Accelerated 40K spread inside China STAGE 1: 30K Initial cases; Coverage Volume Coverage 20K quarantine of Wuhan 10K announced 0K 1-1 1-8 1-15 1-22 1-29 2-5 2-12 2-19 2-26 3-4 3-11 3-183-25 4-1 4-8 4-154-224-29 5-6 5-135-205-27 6-3 6-10 CANADIAN WEEKLY VOLUME TREND 35K 30K 25K 20K 15K Coverage Volume Coverage 10K 5K 0K 6-7 6-8 6-9 6-10 6-11 6-12 6-13 SHARE OF VOICE BY PROVINCE ARTICLES PUBLISHED (BY PROVINCE) PROV. TOTAL QC 26,814 ON 21,936 AB 10,869 BC 7,305 NS 7,006 NB 5,634 SK 5,155 NL 4,317 MB 3,786 PE 2,031 NT 1192 YT 1,075 NU 920 NOTEABLE ARTICLES THIS WEEK ARTICLE OUTLET AUTHOR DATE REACH More funding, health, equity measures needed CBC News Julia Knope 13-Jun-20 7,437,139 ahead of September school reopening: OSSTF Small indoor gatherings, dining in restaurants CBC News Isaac Olson 8-Jun-20 7,437,139 allowed in most of Quebec starting June 15 Feds mandating temperature checks at airports, CTV News Rachel Aiello 12-Jun-20 5,490,046 extending military deployments Ottawa prêt à régulariser les demandeurs d’asile Radio- Romain Schué 10-Jun-20 2,322,824 travaillant dans le système de santé Canada Legault pourrait prolonger la session pour faire Radio- Hugo Prévost 9-Jun-20 2,322,824 adopter le projet de loi 61 Canada 50 millions de plus pour les commerçants de Fanny Lévesque, La Presse 7-Jun-20 1,810,950 Montréal Tommy Chouinard MEDIA LANDSCAPE & TOPICS Fatalities 38,662 Reopening 33,676 Lockdowns/Quarantine 31,317 Testing 30,746 Economic Impact 27,114 Masks 25,727 Xenophobia 18,914 Healthcare workers 18,634 School 17,192 TOP MOVERS IN Social Distancing 17,123 PAST WEEK New Cases 14,812 CERB Students 11,933 +128% Retirement Homes 11,839 SECOND WAVE Job Loss/Unemployment 9,862 +40% Second Wave 7,667 TRAVEL BANS +24% Reported Cases 6,434 Vaccines 5,912 RETIREMENT HOMES -20% CERB 5,029 JOB LOSS/UNEMPLOYMENT Remote Work 4,356 -17% Travel Bans 3,189 FATALITIES -11% CANADIAN TOPIC TRENDS TOPIC CANADIAN 20,000K 10,000K 15,000K 5,000K 40% 80% 50% 30% 20% 60% 70% 10% 0% 0K 01-Jan 01-Jan CERB Tests 08-Jan CERB Tests 08-Jan 15-Jan 15-Jan 22-Jan 22-Jan 29-Jan 29-Jan 05-Feb 05-Feb 12-Feb 12-Feb Economic Impact Economic Reopening 19-Feb Impact Economic Reopening 19-Feb 26-Feb 26-Feb 04-Mar 04-Mar 11-Mar 11-Mar 18-Mar 18-Mar 25-Mar 25-Mar Masks Ventilators Masks Ventilators 01-Apr 01-Apr 08-Apr 08-Apr 15-Apr 15-Apr 22-Apr 22-Apr 29-Apr 29-Apr 06-May Second Wave Second 06-May Wave Second 13-May 13-May 20-May 20-May 27-May 27-May 03-Jun 03-Jun 10-Jun PUBLIC OFFICIALS SHARE OF VOICE Justin Trudeau 8,597 Doug Ford 4,743 Francois Legault 3,251 John Horgan 1,195 Jason Kenney 1,115 Dr. Theresa Tam 971 Stephen McNeil 650 Blaine Higgs 528 Dwight Ball 446 Dennis King 350 Brian Pallister 154 Scott Moe 119 Caroline Cochrane 42 Sandy Silver 26 Joe Savikataaq 4 Canada’s chief public health officer has questioned the effectiveness of temperature taking as a means to identify and therefore curb the spread of the virus. “The more you actually understand this virus, the more you begin to know the temperature taking is not effective at all,” Dr. Theresa Tam said last month. Global News DR. THERESA TAM – CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER …drug users are facing an extremely toxic street drug supply as a result of disruptions in the supply chain due to COVID-19. In addition, the measures taken to physically distance from one another have made it more difficult to connect with friends and family, potentially isolating drug users. "This can be very isolating for some people and ... makes it [easier] for them to hide their drug use from others even if they might otherwise have reached out for help or been very careful about not using alone," she said. CBC News DR. BONNIE HENRY – PROVINCIAL HEALTH OFFICER, BRITISH COLUMBIA “Retail was going through an array of changes before the pandemic, and the pandemic made it very crystal clear that we needed to make sure that our retail sector, particularly our main street businesses, were able to reach their customers in different ways," Joly says.