Minister’s daily tweets on pandemic are missing one key figure

Health workers dismayed that Elliott’s regular Twitter updates don’t include latest death toll

Daily updates on Twitter have been a part of Ontario’s pandemic routine for months.

Every morning, shortly before the province’s COVID- 19 numbers are released, the account of Health Minister Christine Elliott issues a series of tweets.

The first tweet mentions the total of new infections, as recorded by the province’s public health units by 3 p. m. the previous day. It also lists the total new infections recorded in the five worst- hit regions of the province. A second tweet, threaded to the first, makes note of the number of vaccinations administered in the province as of 8 p. m. the day before. A final tweet reminds Ontarians that there has been a provincewide lockdown in place since Dec. 26.

Absent from Elliott’s tweets, however, is the number of Ontarians who have died from the virus. As of Monday evening, by the Star’s count, 5,075 people have died in Ontario over the course of

the pandemic, with 44 new deaths reported that day. Of those, according to the province, 2,980 occurred in longtermcare homes.

The omission has been noticed by many on Twitter, including health- care professionals, who are quick to retweet and reply to the minister’s tweets pointing out the number of deaths recorded that day.

“The number of deaths is arguably the most important statistic in the COVID- 19 pandemic,” said Dr. Jennifer Kwan, a family physician from Burlington who replies daily to Elliott’s tweets with the number of recorded deaths and posts daily summaries on the pandemic’s progress in the province.

Deaths are a reliable indicator of the severity of the pandemic and a snapshot of the last few weeks, Kwan said. “It’s a delayed metric. People take time to get sick and decline to death.”

And, she noted, it’s important for the public to understand that COVID- 19 can range in severity and result in death.

The health minister “used to report on other metrics, which were less useful. For example, she would mention the number of people under the age of 40 that comprise the ( caseload),” Kwan said. “But if she’s able to report on those other metrics, then why would she not mention hospitalizations and deaths? Because it’s important to have a complete picture of the situation, not just on certain parts of the issues.”

In a statement, Alexandra Hilkene, a spokesperson for Elliott, did not respond to questions about why the death totals were omitted but offered condolences to families of those who died from the virus.

“We send our deepest condolences to all those who have lost a loved one to COVID- 19,” Hilkene wrote. “These individuals had families, friends and loved ones, and as a province we mourn their tragic loss. Our government remains unequivocal in our commitment to protecting the health and safety of Ontarians.”

The structure of Elliott’s tweets likely comes down to strategy and messaging, said Tamara Small, an associate professor of political science at the University of Guelph. Despite the pandemic, politicians are “still … in the business of promoting themselves,” she said. “So why would you put things that make you look terrible on your Twitter feed?”

Tweets would fall under the minister’s communications strategy, Small said, meaning they likely follow similar messaging as her press releases.

“I think we know that social media is part of this public relations organ,” Small said. “What the government wants to do is shape the discourse. They want to have a particular story being told about what’s going on.”

Small said criticism of the government for not including death numbers is legitimate, but added she also understood the strategy that could be leading the tweets.

Not deviating from the typical format is part of message discipline, Small said. “Everyone’s going to tell the same story — and it’s not going to be the story of the worst things that are happening.”