Reports have it that, some monkeys attacked a laboratory technician and made away with blood samples taken from suspected coronavirus patients.
Dr Dheeraj Baliyan, medical superintendent of Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College and Hospital confirmed that, the incident indeed occurred at a government hospital in the Meerut district of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
According to him, The technician who was working with the Covid-19 facility of the hospital was attacked by the monkeys whilst carrying blood samples due for testing.
He further stated that, the monkeys stole both the sample box with three samples after the attack and climbed a tree with it, chew the packets and threw them to the ground afterwards.
When asked why blood samples were being used as covid-19 samples instead of swabs, head of the hospital, S.K. Garg told reporters that, samples are normally taken from people who test positive for Covid-19 as part of a routine blood test.
The district administration has however initiated an investigation into the occurrence. The basis for this inquiry is a supposed “mishandling” of the samples.
He further stated that, the monkeys stole both the sample box with three samples after the attack and climbed a tree with it, chew the packets and threw them to the ground afterwards.
When asked why blood samples were being used as covid-19 samples instead of swabs, head of the hospital, S.K. Garg told reporters that, samples are normally taken from people who test positive for Covid-19 as part of a routine blood test
