Chinese Scientist Who First Published COVID Sequence Kicked Out Of Lab

Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post Monday that he and his team had been suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since the virologist published the sequence in January 2020 without state approval. News of the protest spread widely on Chinese social media and Zhang told a colleague he slept outside the lab - but it was not clear Tuesday if he remained there. In an online statement, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center said that Zhang's lab was being renovated and was closed for "Safety reasons." It added that it had provided Zhang's team an alternative laboratory space. Zhang wrote online that his team wasn't offered an alternative until after they were notified of their eviction, and that the lab offered didn't meet safety standards for conducting their research, leaving his team in limbo. In an email Monday to collaborator Edward Holmes seen by AP, Zhang confirmed he was sleeping outside his lab after guards barred him from entering. An AP reporter was blocked by a guard at an entrance to the compound housing Zhang's lab. Zhang's publication of the sequence also prompted additional scrutiny of his lab, according to Holmes, Zhang's collaborator and a virologist at the University of Sydney.