Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples from lab worker

A mob of monkeys stormed a lab worker in India and snatched several coronavirus-positive blood samples — causing outbreak-fearing neighbors to go ape, according to a report Friday.

In the totally bananas attack, the laboratory technician was carrying boxes of the blood across the campus of a state-run medical college in Meerut, near Delhi, when the primates pounced, according to Reuters.

“Monkeys grabbed and fled with the blood samples of four COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment,” said S. K. Garg, a top official at the college. “We had to take their blood samples again.”

The mischievous mammals scampered into a tree and began nibbling a container holding the infected loot, according to the Guardian.

People living near the college campus feared the virus would spread if monkeys carried the samples into their neighborhoods, authorities said. But it wasn’t clear if the animals had spilled the samples, or whether monkeys can contract COVID-19.

“No evidence has been found that monkeys can contract the infection,” Garg said.

On Friday, India had reported 165,799 cases of the coronavirus and 4,706 deaths. The virus is believed to have transferred from animals to people in a wildlife market in the city of Wuhan, China, late last year.

With Post wires