Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest

BEIJING -- The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest.

Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post early Wednesday that authorities had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return to his laboratory and continue their research for the time being.

Zhang had been staging a sit-in protest outside his lab since the weekend after he and his team were suddenly notified they had to leave their lab, a sign of Beijing’s continuing pressure on scientists conducting research on the coronavirus.