On Friday, monkeys attacked a lab technician, who was carrying coronavirus test samples of suspected patients in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut. The incident took place in the premises of Meerut Medical College.
According to the report of Times Now, the medics collected samples from three suspected patients.
The samples were not even tested, the monkeys snatched them from the lab technician and ran away. The doctors have collected fresh samples from the patients.
It is also said that later one of the monkeys who attacked the lab technician was spotted atop a tee chewing the sample collection kits. Parts of some kits were spotted strewn on the ground under the tree. The video of the incident went viral on social media platforms.
On being questioned by media, Meerut district magistrate Anil Dhingra said that he hasn’t seen any such video but would initiate an inquiry into the matter.
Apart from spreading the infection to human beings in the neighbouring area, there is also a risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection to monkeys from humans. Monkeys are not immune to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
However, some studies claim that after being infected once, if the monkey survives, then it develops immunity to reinfection.
In March, a tigress housed at a zoo in New York contracted the infection from an asymptomatic zoo employee. There have been reports of pet dogs and cats contracting the disease from their COVID-19 positive owners.
