Scientist Who Sequenced COVID-19 Virus Allowed to Return to Lab After Protest
The first Chinese scientist to publish a genomic sequence of the COVID-19 virus—without permission of government health authorities—says he has been allowed to return to his lab following a sit-in protest he started after he claimed to have been locked out of the facility over the weekend.
Virologist Zhang Yongzhen on Wednesday wrote online that the medical center where his lab is located had “tentatively agreed” to permit him and the rest of his team to return and resume their research activities. In an earlier post that has since been deleted, Zhang said he and his colleagues had been suddenly informed last Thursday that their lab had been closed for renovations, according to the Associated Press.
Zhang started sitting outside the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center where his lab is hosted after guards prevented him from entering over the weekend. Images shared online show Zhang lying on a piece of cardboard in front of the entrance to the facility. His protest was widely discussed on Chinese social media, putting the actions of local authorities under scrutiny.