The Intersection of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2021 Heat Dome in Canadian Digital News Media: A Content Analysis

Emily J. Tetzlaff, Nicholas Goulet, Melissa Gorman (), Gregory R. A. Richardson and Glen P. Kenny
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Emily J. Tetzlaff: Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Nicholas Goulet: Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Melissa Gorman: Heat Division, Climate Change and Innovation Bureau, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Safe Environments Directorate, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
Gregory R. A. Richardson: Heat Division, Climate Change and Innovation Bureau, Healthy Environment and Consumer Safety Branch, Safe Environments Directorate, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
Glen P. Kenny: Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: During the 2021 Heat Dome, 619 people in British Columbia died due to the heat. This public health disaster was made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have explored the intersection of heat with COVID-19, and none in Canada. Considering that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme heat events, it is important to improve our understanding of intersecting public health crises. Thus, this study aimed to explore media-based public health communication in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Heat Dome. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on a subset of media articles ( n = 520) related to the COVID-19 pandemic which were identified through a previous media analysis on the 2021 Heat Dome ( n = 2909). Many of the articles provided conflicting health messages that may have confused the public about which health protective actions to take. The articles also showed how the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the health impacts of the 2021 Heat Dome, as pandemic-related public health measures may have deterred people away from protecting themselves from heat. This study, which provides novel insight into the prioritization of public health messaging when an extreme heat event occurs concurrently with a pandemic, supports the need for consistent heat health guidance.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; extreme heat; climate change; health messaging; public health; intersecting crises (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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