First scientist to publish Covid sequence in China ‘evicted’ from lab

Zhang Yongzhen stages protest, as government attempts to avoid scrutiny over handling of outbreak

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 laboratory.

Zhang Yongzhen, a virologist, wrote in an online post on Monday 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 published the sequence in early January 2020.