A TROOP of monkeys broke into a medical college in India and stole coronavirus test samples after attacking a lab technician today, Your Content has learned.
The thieving chimps took three test samples from Meerut Medical College in Uttar Pradesh this morning.
The shocking news first surfaced on The Indian Times early Friday morning.
According to the DailyMail, a technician was carrying the samples before one of the monkeys jumped him, stealing them from him and was filmed sitting in a tree chewing on them.
Although the menace of monkeys in the area is a recurrent phenomenon the locals now fear further spread of infection with these collection kits being carried away to nearby residential areas by the monkeys.
The police chief said there was a risk of the monkeys spreading the infection and the college is currently attempting to trace the samples.
He said: “While animals cannot be responsible for carrying this disease, if they are carrying these sample tests and they move away from the medical college to residential areas then definitely if there are contaminated kits there, then they (the monkeys) can spread the infection further.”
‘Therefore it’s a very serious alarm for health authorities as well as the local administration involved,’ he told The Times of India.
Amir Haque, Lucknow Bureau Chief, said the monkeys had been reported causing a nuisance around the college before but this was something new.
India recorded 4,797 coronavirus deaths yesterday as the country’s number of infections increased to 167,442, following exponential growth through May.
The technician was reportedly fired after the attack.
