Govt to Retire Omi as Chair of Infectious Disease Panel

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:20 JST, August 25, 2023

The government decided on Thursday to retire Shigeru Omi, 74, from his post as the chair of the government panel for discussing measures against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, according to government sources.

The panel for promotion of preparedness and response to a new strain of influenza and other new infectious diseases will also be reorganized by the government in time for the September launch of a new Cabinet agency on leading crisis management regarding contagious diseases. The government is planning to elect a new chair of the panel.

Since 2020, when novel coronavirus infections started spreading in Japan, Omi has advised the government from a scientific point of view as a specialist on infectious diseases. He also served as the head of the panel’s subcommittee on novel coronavirus measures.