Top Virologist Shahid Jameel Quits Covid Panel After Criticising Government

Shahid Jameel had earlier said he was concerned that authorities were not paying enough attention to the evidence on COVID-19 as they set policy.

Senior virologist Shahid Jameel has resigned from a forum of scientific advisers set up by the government to detect variants of the coronavirus, he told NDTV on Sunday, weeks after questioning the authorities' handling of the pandemic. "It's correct and I shall have nothing more to say," Dr Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of the forum known as INSACOG, said. "I am not obliged to give a reason," he said in a text message to news agency Reuters, adding that he quit on Friday. Renu Swarup, the secretary of the Department of Biotechnology that oversees INSACOG, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.