Susan Mitchell | Business Post

Susan Mitchell

Deputy Editor and Health Editor

@susan-mitchell

Susan Mitchell is the deputy editor and health editor

The R factor: the digit that is shaping our lives

Since the pandemic began, the R0 number has been pored over on a daily basis by medics and the media. Whenever it rises to 1 or more, alarm ensues. But just how effective is it at telling us the rate of coronavirus infection?

Mental health: Are we coping with the coronavirus?

The extent of the psychological fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has yet to fully show itself, but some experts warn that forecasts of a tsunami of new referrals are premature

A mixed prognosis for private hospitals

Private healthcare providers with newer buildings will have advantages over older private hospitals, which face real challenges from Covid-19

Mater Private chief: ‘danger to the Mater Private’s future is real and immediate’

In an email, John Hurley told staff that the healthcare sector would not escape the full impact of a recession

The scientists who say we got it wrong on coronavirus

Up till now, the consensus has been that Covid-19 came to Europe some time around the onset of spring – but new data strongly suggests that the coronavirus struck much earlier than that

How real is the risk of a second wave of Covid-19?

Scientists have set out three possible scenarios for how the next phase of Covid-19 will evolve, but none of them predict the disappearance of the virus

Ireland’s Covid-19 excess deaths higher than EU norm

In a comparison with 18 European countries, Ireland comes eighth, behind Italy, Spain and France

Revealed: how Ireland’s pandemic death rate exceeded many in Europe

In a special Business Post analysis, Susan Mitchell and Rachel Lavin crunch the coronavirus numbers to reveal the sobering truth that the death rate in Ireland is considerably higher than that of many other European countries

Cancer screening to restart before end of summer, HSE says

The HSE plans to begin a phased reintroduction of checks for cervical, breast and bowel cancer after programmes were paused due to Covid-19

Hard lessons: getting kids back to school will be no easy task

With expert opinion divided over how safe it is to reopen schools, there is no definitive answer to the question of how likely children are to transmit the coronavirus

How does testing for Covid-19 work?

Marie Culliton, medical scientist and Laboratory Manager at the National Maternity Hospital on the science behind testing for coronavirus

HSE stops testing nursing home transfer patients

Elderly now required to isolate for 14 days inside care homes once discharged from hospital

HSE appoints new head of screening

The service is due to restart in the autumn, while patient advocates have expressed concern over delays in detecting cancers

Fifth of adults to cocoon at home for forseeable future

Home care firms group calls for statutory home care scheme to allow people to remain at home if they wish

Head of BreastCheck: ‘We are taking twice as long to do half the work at the moment’

Professor Ann O’Doherty, head of BreastCheck, defends the pausing of services during Covid-19 as she outlines the impact of two-metre physical distancing rules and points to the programme’s detection of over 12,200 cancers to date

How has Covid-19 impacted cancer screening?

Dr Robert O’Connor, head of research for the Irish Cancer Society, discusses the HSE’s decision to pause cancer screening due to coronavirus

Nursing homes told to withhold information on Covid-19 outbreaks from families

Memo from Nursing Homes Ireland claimed instruction came from Nphet

Eastern promise: how Asian countries are outperforming the West on Covid-19

Why have European countries and officials in public health and infection control been outclassed by their Asian counterparts?

‘Too early to tell’ whether it’s safe to reopen schools

Johns Hopkins University’s report says such decisions are ‘extremely difficult’ due to ongoing ‘uncertainties relating to risk’

Did Europe react quickly enough to Covid-19?

Susan Mitchell, the Business Post‘s health editor, speaks to Dr Cillian De Gascun, a consultant virologist and member of the National Public Health Emergency Team, on the European response to the coronavirus, the role of children in its transmission and how many people could ultimately be infected in Ireland