Canadian health journalist Helen Branswell dies at 69

Helen Branswell, praised for her coverage of infectious diseases and the COVID-19 pandemic, died Tuesday from complications of cancer. She was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1957 and began as a freelancer in New Brunswick.

Background

On Jan 4, 2020, she wrote about a cluster of unexplained pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, before the virus that causes COVID-19 had a name. She had covered the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Her honours

• George Polk Award, 2021
• Pulitzer Prize finalist with her team, 2021
• Kovler Prize for Trust in Life Science Journalism, 2026

Her pandemic reporting won a George Polk Award in 2021, and in August she received the 2026 Kovler Prize, whose $25,000 honorarium she gave to a journalism fellowship.

"At a moment when misinformation competes with facts, her reporting was a trusted source of clarity, honesty and insight."

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general