Daijiworld Media Network – Meerut (SD)
Meerut, May 29: In one of Uttar Pradesh government hospital, monkeys attacked a lab technician and snatched vials containing blood samples. In a video widely circulated on social media, the monkeys can be seen trying to eat what looked like surgical gloves, while perched on top of a tree in the hospital premises.
The incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut Medical College and Hospital. The hospital is a prime centre for COVID-19 treatment in the state which also has a testing lab.
Authorities from the hospital have admitted to the incident but claimed that the samples snatched were not those of COVID-19 patients rather of regular patients already infected and treated at the hospital.
"They were not COVID-19 test samples, but blood samples from COVID patients meant for routine tests. The man from whom the samples were snatched said fresh samples have been collected," Dr SK Garg, principal of Meerut Medical College and Hospital, said.
Dr Garg convinced that the blood samples were not of COVID-19 patients and the people need not fear the spread of coronavirus due to the incident. He said, "Coronavirus samples are stored and transported in cold chain boxes, not in the open."
The doctor further said that no studies have so far claimed that coronavirus would spread from monkeys to humans. Very few animals are reported to have coronavirus infected worldwide and mostly with those in close contact with a person with COVID-19, he said.