New York City declares monkeypox a health emergency
NEW YORK, July 31, 2022
The US State of New York has declared a state of emergency over the continued spread of monkeypox, Reuters reported.
In a tweet on her official Twitter account, the Governor of the State of New York Kathy Hochul said: "I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to confront the monkeypox outbreak," adding that more than one in four monkeypox cases in the US are in New York.
Officials called the city "the epicenter" of the outbreak and said as many as 150,000 city residents could be at risk of infection.
As of July 29, New York State had a total of 1,383 confirmed monkeypox cases, according to New York Department of Health's website.
Meanwhile, Brazil and Spain yesterday reported the first monkeypox-related deaths outside Africa.
The World Health Organisation last week declared a global health emergency, its highest level of alert, over the monkeypox outbreak.
