[3] Zhong earned international fame for managing the SARS outbreak[4] and was renowned for refuting the official line which downplayed the severity of the crisis.

[6] During the COVID-19 pandemic which was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, Zhong was a leading advisor in managing the crisis, suggesting evidence-based control measures to contain the disease and sharing the successful treatment plan with the international community.

He once taught medicine, worked as a worker, and edited the school newspaper until he was transferred back to the Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College in 1971.

Concerned that the news that a leading researcher and doctor for respiratory diseases falling ill during the SARS outbreak would cause fear and panic for the general public, Zhong decided to not receive treatment in the hospital.

On 11 February 2003, at a press conference held by the Guangdong Department of Health, Zhong explained the disease and its symptoms, and calmed the public by asserting that it was "preventable" and "curable".

In February 2003 the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention had already published the authoritative view that normal Chlamydia was the direct cause of atypical pneumonia and, as a result, the only legally prescribed way of treating SARS patients was to use antibiotics.

[10] In early January 2020, Zhong visited Wuhan, in response to a growing cluster of then-unidentified pneumonia cases, and was reassured by city health officials that the disease was controllable and preventable.

In August 2020, he received from Chinese leader Xi Jinping the Medal of the Republic, the highest state honor, for his outstanding contribution to fighting the COVID-19 epidemic.

[12] During the pandemic, Zhong had promoted publicly[13] the usage of a controversial [14] traditional Chinese medicine of Lianhua Qingwen capsule for treating Covid-19 infection.

In 2020, Zhong worked with Tencent to establish an AI Joint Lab to conduct research on disease screening, prevention, and outbreak warnings.