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COVID-19 IN

A WEEKLY MEDIA SUMMARY FOR

CANADIAN MEDIA

PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORS

JUNE 7 – JUNE 13, 2020

For the week of

A NOTE TO THE READERThis 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 news media content only, published between June 7 and June 13, focused on discussions related to COVID-19 and Coronavirus. The analysis is based on English and French media content.

This analysis features earned media coverage from over 50,000 unique media outlets across both traditional and digital media sources, including:

• Traditional Television

• Traditional Radio

• Traditional Print

• Online / Web-based News

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.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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TOTAL FOUND COVERAGE TOTAL POTENTIAL REACH SHIFT FROM LAST WEEK

STAGE 4: WHO declares COVID-19 as a Pandemic

CANADIAN COVERAGE VOLUME TREND

COVERAGE OVERVIEW

CANADIAN WEEKLY VOLUME TREND

STAGE 1: Initial cases; quarantine of Wuhan announced

STAGE 2: Accelerated spread inside China

STAGE 3: Death toll surpasses SARS; Increasing international cases; Diamond Princess quarantine

THIS WEEK

165,352 55,159,707,026 -2%

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ARTICLE OUTLET AUTHOR DATE REACH

More funding, health, equity measures needed ahead of September school reopening: OSSTF

CBC News Julia Knope 13-Jun-20 7,437,139

Small indoor gatherings, dining in restaurants allowed in most of Quebec starting June 15

CBC News Isaac Olson 8-Jun-20 7,437,139

Feds mandating temperature checks at airports, extending military deployments

CTV News Rachel Aiello 12-Jun-20 5,490,046

Ottawa prêt à régulariser les demandeurs d’asile travaillant dans le système de santé

Radio-Canada

Romain Schué 10-Jun-20 2,322,824

Legault pourrait prolonger la session pour faire adopter le projet de loi 61

Radio-Canada

Hugo Prévost 9-Jun-20 2,322,824

50 millions de plus pour les commerçants de Montréal

La PresseFanny Lévesque,

Tommy Chouinard7-Jun-20 1,810,950

SHARE OF VOICE 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

ARTICLES PUBLISHED (BY PROVINCE)

NOTEABLE ARTICLES THIS WEEK

3,189

4,356

5,029

5,912

6,434

7,667

9,862

11,839

11,933

14,812

17,123

17,192

18,634

18,914

25,727

27,114

30,746

31,317

33,676

38,662

Travel Bans

Remote Work

CERB

Vaccines

Reported Cases

Second Wave

Job Loss/Unemployment

Retirement Homes

Students

New Cases

Social Distancing

School

Healthcare workers

Xenophobia

Masks

Economic Impact

Testing

Lockdowns/Quarantine

Reopening

Fatalities

MEDIA LANDSCAPE & TOPICS

TOP MOVERS IN PAST WEEK

CERB+128%

SECOND WAVE+40%

TRAVEL BANS+24%

RETIREMENT HOMES-20%

JOB LOSS/UNEMPLOYMENT-17%

FATALITIES-11%

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Tests Reopening Ventilators Second Wave

CERB Economic Impact Masks

CANADIAN TOPIC TRENDS

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Tests Reopening Ventilators Second WaveCERB Economic Impact Masks

PUBLIC OFFICIALS SHARE OF VOICE

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

…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. THERESA TAM –CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER

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. CTV News

MÉLANIE JOLY –MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVEL. & OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

4

26

42

119

154

350

446

528

650

971

1,115

1,195

3,251

4,743

8,597

Joe Savikataaq

Sandy Silver

Caroline Cochrane

Scott Moe

Brian Pallister

Dennis King

Dwight Ball

Blaine Higgs

Stephen McNeil

Dr. Theresa Tam

Jason Kenney

John Horgan

Francois Legault

Doug Ford

Justin Trudeau

Now that you understand how the Canadian media has been discussing COVID-19 this past week, let Cision help you stay on top of the continuing conversation and how your brand is being discussed.

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