(Trinidad Guardian) As medical personnel at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (POSGH) prepared to resume elective surgeries on Friday, they were delayed for a few hours more after a wild monkey was found in the operating theatre.

Forced to wait for some additional time as zoological officers were called in to capture the animal, hospital officials have denied social media claims that a snake was also found on the hospital compound around the same time.

Following an almost three-month interruption of the elective surgeries programme implemented by the Ministry of Health, Friday’s resumption was said to be the first scheduled to take place in the area of obgynaecology.

In a release on Saturday, the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) said: “The Authority categorically denies that a snake was also found on the hospital’s compound and any information suggesting same is false, misleading and malicious.

One was captioned “Monkey and a Big Snake was found at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital yesterday,’” while the other was a video clip of a monkey atop a shelf within a sealed office.