Monkeys steal coronavirus samples after attacking lab technician in India, sparking fears it could spread contamination

• Monkeys took three samples from Meerut Medical College in Uttar Pradesh
• Police say there is a risk of the infection spreading as the monkeys move around
• The college has found the samples and retested the three people affected
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

A troop of monkeys broke into a medical college in India and stole coronavirus test samples after attacking a lab technician today.

The monkeys took three test samples from Meerut Medical College in Uttar Pradesh this morning.

A technician was carrying the samples before one of the monkeys snatched them from him and was filmed sitting in a tree chewing on them.

Those living nearby fear the virus will spread as the monkeys carry the samples around residential areas. 

Amir Haque, Lucknow Bureau Chief, said the monkeys had been reported causing a nuisance around the college before but this was something new. 

The police chief said there was a risk of the monkeys spreading the infection to nearby towns. 

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. 

The sample boxes were later recovered and had not been damaged, Meerut Medical college superintendent Dheeraj Raj said.

Mr Raj said: 'They were still intact and we don't think there is any risk of contamination or spread.'

He added that the three people whose samples were stolen were retested for the virus.

India recorded 4,797 coronavirus deaths yesterday as the country's number of infections increased to 167,442, following exponential growth through May.

There are fears that the country is becoming a new epicentre for the disease in Asia, following a surprisingly low infection rate earlier on in the pandemic.

India made up nearly a quarter of Asia's new infections last Friday, with the continent as a whole accounting for 23 per cent of the world's daily tally - up from a figure as low as eight per cent in March and April.