Group Of Monkeys Steal COVID-19 Samples After Attacking Lab Assistant

2020, eh? This year continues to just get weirder and weirder, but this is amongst the strangest stories yet.

A group of monkeys in India have taken off with a bunch of COVID-19 test samples after they attacked a lab assistant in Delhi.

Sky News report that the animals swooped down to snatch the samples from three patients, later being spotted chewing on them in a nearby three. The patients were required to submit a second sample.

In the absence of people in public places due to the lockdown in India, monkeys have begun to take over a number of new areas of the Delhi. While some groups have thrived as a result of the absence of humans, others have struggled due to the lack of food they usually source from the human population.

There are also fears that monkeys becoming exposed to the coronavirus could see the virus mutate and infect them and other animals in the area, having potentially massive effects on the local wildlife population.

A local biologist told The Hindu:

The point is, we have very little understanding of the virus, and it is better to limit our interactions with wildlife till there is more research done on its effects on non-human primates and other animal species.