Abstract
BackgroundThe media play a critical role in informing the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, international travel has been a highly contested subject at both the international and national levels. We examined Canadian media reporting on international travel restrictions during the pandemic, how these restrictions aligned with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), and how the narrative around international travel evolved over time.MethodsWe analysed articles from Canada’s top three national newspapers by circulation – The Globe and Mail, The National Post and The Toronto Star - published between Jan 1, 2020 - May 31, 2020. Our search yielded a total of 378 articles across the three newspapers. After removing duplicates and screening the remaining articles, we included a total of 62 articles for the analysis. We conducted a qualitative media content analysis by using an inductive coding approach.ResultsThree major themes were identified within the articles. These included: 1) The role of scientific and expert evidence in implementing travel restrictions; 2) Federal legislation, regulation and enforcement of international travel measures; and 3) Compliance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in travel restriction policy- and decision-making. The federal government relied primarily on scientific evidence for implementing international travel restrictions and fully exercised its powers under the Quarantine Act to enforce travel regulations and comply with the IHR 2005. The government embraced a rules-based international order by following WHO recommendations on international travel, contributing to a delay in border closure and travel restrictions until mid-March.ConclusionThe media focussed significantly on international travel-related issues during the early phase of the pandemic. The dominant media narrative surrounded the need for earlier travel restrictions against international travel.
Highlights
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)In order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading within their borders, many WHO member states imposedReddy et al BMC Public Health (2021) 21:1028 partial or complete border closures
This paper uses a media content analysis to examine reporting on international travel restrictions in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, how these restrictions aligned with the IHR 2005, and how the narrative around international travel evolved over the course of the pandemic
These included: 1) The role of scientific and expert evidence in implementing travel restrictions; 2) Federal legislation, regulation and enforcement of international travel measures; and 3) Compliance with WHO guidelines in travel restriction policy- and decision-making
Summary
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)In order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading within their borders, many WHO member states imposedReddy et al BMC Public Health (2021) 21:1028 partial or complete border closures. Annex 1B of the 2005 revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) provides guidelines around measures that can be taken during a PHEIC, including quarantining travellers. These measures should not include unwarranted travel and trade restrictions that may harm the economies of countries that report health threats. The media played a critical role in informing the public about the pandemic and shaping national policy responses to the pandemic in multiple countries [9,10,11]. Previous media research studies have predicted influenza disease outbreaks [13], shaped policy action regulating menthol cigarette smoking [14], and helped to establish public health measures against COVID-19 [9,10,11]. We examined Canadian media reporting on international travel restrictions during the pandemic, how these restrictions aligned with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), and how the narrative around international travel evolved over time
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