Chinese scientist who published covid-19 sequence authorized to return to the laboratory

Zhang Yongzhen and the team were allowed to continue the investigation

The first scientist in China to publish a sequence of the virus that causes Covid-19 revealed that he was allowed to return to his laboratory, after having spent days sitting outside in protest.

Zhang Yongzhen said on social media that authorities had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return to the laboratory and continue the investigation.

Zhang has held a protest outside the laboratory since the weekend after he and his team were suddenly ordered to be evicted, a sign of Beijing’s continued pressure on scientists investigating the origins of the coronavirus.

The Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center previously said Zhang’s laboratory was being renovated and had been closed for safety reasons. But Zhang said that his team was only offered an alternative after the eviction and that the new laboratory did not meet safety standards for carrying out its research.

When Zhang tried to go to the laboratory over the weekend, guards blocked him from entering. As a sign of protest, he sat outside, on a flat cardboard, in the pouring rain, as shown in photographs published on the Internet.

An Associated Press investigation revealed that the Chinese government froze significant national and international efforts to track the virus since the early weeks of the outbreak. This continues today, with laboratories closed, collaborations destroyed, foreign scientists expelled and Chinese researchers prevented from leaving the country.

Zhang’s ordeal began when he and his team decoded the virus on January 5, 2020, and wrote an internal notice alerting Chinese authorities to its potential for spread – but did not make the sequence public.

The following day, Zhang’s laboratory was ordered to temporarily close by China’s main health authority and Zhang came under pressure from Chinese authorities.

At that time, China reported that several dozen people were being treated for infection with a respiratory disease in the central city of Wuhan. In Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, possible cases of the same disease had been recorded, involving recent travelers to the city.

Foreign scientists soon learned that Zhang and other Chinese scientists had deciphered the virus and called for its publication. Zhang published his coronavirus sequence on January 11, 2020, despite the lack of authorization.

Sequencing a virus is essential for the development of tests, disease control measures and vaccines. The virus ended up spreading to all corners of the world, triggering a pandemic that disrupted life and commerce, caused widespread lockdowns and killed millions of people.