Helen Branswell, a leading reporter on infectious diseases who wrote with foresight, urgency and clarity about the emerging danger of the COVID-19 pandemic, ahead of the vast majority of journalists and even many medical experts, died on Tuesday (Oct. 13) in Ottawa. She was 69.
Her death, in a hospital, was from complications of a recurrence of breast cancer, her sister, Brenda Branswell, said.
Ms. Branswell “saw the pandemic coming well before anyone was paying attention,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator in 2022 and 2023, posted on social media after her death.
