Lucknow: In a bizarre incident in Uttar Pradesh' Meerut city, a monkey attacked a lab technician, snatched vials containing blood samples from three coronavirus patients from within the hospital premises and escaped.
In a video of the incident which reportedly happened Tuesday at Meerut Medical College but went viral on social media Friday, the monkey can be seen sitting atop a tree in the hospital, chewing surgical gloves he stole along with the samples.
The hospital is a nodal centre for the treatment of COVID patients in western UP and also has a testing lab. The monkey's adventure led to massive corona scare among patients and hospital staff both.
Hospital authorities admitted to the fiasco but claimed that the samples snatched by the monkey were not swab samples.
"These were not COVID test samples, but blood samples from COVID patients meant for routine tests. Coronavirus samples are stored and transported in cold chain boxes, not in the open. Fresh samples from all the three patients have been collected," Dr SK Garg, principal of Meerut Medical College and Hospital, said.
The doctor further said there was no scientific study to show the novel coronavirus can spread to monkeys from humans.
However, hospital has sought a clarification from the technician as to why he preferred to film the entire incident on mobile phone instead of informing the authorities.
