Chinese scientist, first to publish COVID sequence, protests lab lockout

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 - a sign of the Beijing's continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus. 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. Zhang, the first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China, was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his lab. Zhang wrote in an online post on April 29, 2024, that he and his team were suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since he first published the sequence in early January 2020. Zhang's ordeal started when he and his team decoded the virus on Jan. 5, 2020, and wrote an internal notice warning Chinese authorities of its potential to spread - but did not make the sequence public. The next day, Zhang's lab was ordered temporarily shut by China's top health official, and Zhang came under pressure by Chinese authorities. Foreign scientists soon learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had deciphered the virus and called for him to publish.