The two territories 快盈v3 News Services covers have taken two very different approaches to public interest and privacy during the pandemic.

While the GNWT has taken the position of not identifying the home community of a person infected with the coronavirus, officials in Nunavut declared April 8 that they would.
Nunavut鈥檚 argument was about avoiding panic.

"If we announce it and just that it's somewhere in the territory, there will be 25 communities of people who are very concerned and feeling the urge or the need to get tested or at least assessed at the health centres," Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut's chief public health officer, said, according to the CBC.

"By identifying the community where it is without any of the other specifics, we have the ability to shift staff into that community to do the work that needs to be done without overloading the other communities."

That鈥檚 solid reasoning. But NWT chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola also makes a compelling argument for refraining from naming a community where a case has been confirmed.

It鈥檚 also about avoiding panic, and harm.

As the territory has seen in recent days, some communities are taking matters into their own hands, erecting barricades, announcing warnings 鈥� as occurred in Lutsel K鈥檈 where residents have been advised that snowmobiles will be seized if residents don鈥檛 respect isolation measures.

Communities are right to be concerned and it鈥檚 understandable they will want to take steps to protect themselves. But it鈥檚 also easy to see how announcing cases in small communities where most people know each other can quickly devolve into a witch hunt as community members try to surmise who among them has the illness. This may lead to stigma directed toward the infected and for some people to take drastic and harmful action as the fear and rumour mill grows. Hence, the GNWT鈥檚 decision not to name communities.

But while Kandola鈥檚 stance is hard to argue with, it is challenged by the speed at which information spreads over the internet and social media in particular.

It took less than 12 hours for the territory to learn the single NWT case coming from a small community was in Fort Resolution.

(As of April 10, there are five cases in the territory, three in Yellowknife, one in Inuvik).
Once people in the community began taking to Facebook, including Deninu Kue chief Louis Balsillie, that was it. We鈥檙e in a democracy after all, and secrets to don鈥檛 keep well in an open society such as ours.

This is the needle the chief public health officer will have to thread 鈥� aim for discretion and privacy where able but be prepared for word to get out and deal with the aftermath once it does.

So far so good. Here鈥檚 hoping it stays that way.