Chinese scientist who first published COVID sequence stages protest after being locked out of lab

By DAKE KANG
Associated Press

SHANGHAI (AP) — The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China staged a sit-in protest outside his lab after authorities locked him out of the facility. It’s a sign of Beijing’s continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post Monday that he and his team had been suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab. It was the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since the virologist published the sequence in January 2020 without state approval. Guards barred Zhang from entering his lab over the weekend. In protest, he sat outside on flattened cardboard in drizzling rain. News of the protest spread widely on Chinese social media. It was not clear Tuesday if he remained there.