Top news reporter Zheng Xu
Previously, virologist Zhang Yongzhen and his research team were forced to move out within two days by the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai Public Health Center).
On April 30, top news reporters visited the site and saw a cordon set up outside Zhang Yongzhen's laboratory, guarded by multiple security guards. In the early morning of May 1, Zhang Yongzhen posted on Weibo that after the coordination of the relevant departments at the higher level, it is now preliminarily agreed to resume the normal scientific research activities of our laboratory first, and the team members can temporarily enter and exit the laboratory freely.
The laboratory was forcibly closed and slept at the door for three days
Top news reporters previously reported that on April 27, Zhang Yongzhen's student and netizen "Moving Every Year" released a message saying that the management of the Shanghai Public Health Center suddenly notified on April 25, 2024, asking Zhang Yongzhen and the research team to move out of the laboratory within two days. The team was caught off guard by the lack of adequate communication and placement plans. At the same time, the team's research projects include a number of biosecurity projects such as the new coronavirus, and there may be unknown risks in moving out in a hurry.
Subsequently, Zhang Yongzhen, who rushed back to Shanghai from Guangzhou, began to set up bunks at the entrance of the laboratory with some students, and from the 28th to the 30th, he and his team members stayed at the entrance of the laboratory for three days.
Previously, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center issued a statement saying that some laboratories in the hospital need to be renovated recently, and closed construction will be carried out for safety reasons. The hospital provided another office and experimental site for Zhang Yongzhen's team, and the hospital had formulated relevant resettlement plans in advance and informed them in advance. The fact sheet also mentions that the hospital "always respects researchers and supports them and students in carrying out normal research work."
However, the statement was not supported by Zhang Yongzhen, who only said on Weibo that the public health center suddenly held an emergency meeting last Thursday and took only one minute to announce that the P3 lab was going to be upgraded, ordering them to move out within two days, and the team members present did not hear any specific arrangements for where to move. On the same day, the team members had already expressed the team's opinions and replies to the leaders of the hospital, and the hospital could not read back.
On April 30, the top reporter found that two cordons had been set up on the periphery of Zhang Yongzhen's laboratory, and about 6 to 8 security guards wearing fluorescent raincoats were on duty.
Student Wang Hui (pseudonym) told top news reporters that Zhang Yongzhen hadn't slept much for three nights.
Initial access to the laboratory is available, and follow-up issues are yet to be discussed
In the early morning of May 1, Zhang Yongzhen posted on Weibo that after the coordination of the relevant departments at the higher level, it is now preliminarily agreed to resume the normal scientific research activities of our laboratory first, and the team members can enter and exit the laboratory freely for the time being.
"In the future, under the organization and coordination of the superior leaders, we will further communicate and negotiate with the Public Health Center on the future relocation plan of the laboratory, the guarantee of the normal life and scientific research work of students in the transition period, the unfinished part of the two scientific research cooperation agreements between the team and the center, and the unimplemented related issues such as my personal personnel relationship. Zhang Yongzhen said.
"I'm busy right now, but thank you for the media concern. Zhang Yongzhen said in an interview.
On May 1, Zhang Yongzhen's student Wang Hui told the top news reporter that the professor moved into the laboratory at eight or nine o'clock yesterday evening, and as for other issues, further communication with the hospital is still needed.
According to public information, Zhang Yongzhen is a professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of Fudan University and the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center affiliated to Fudan University, and a researcher at the Institute of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In January 2020, at the beginning of the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Zhang Yongzhen and his team quickly analyzed the RNA sequence of the new coronavirus and published the sequence.
Top News previously reported >>