The California government enacted a state of emergency to handle a rising number of monkeypox cases. .“California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom in a Monday statement..“We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.”.The statement said this state of emergency will help coordinate a government response to monkeypox, seek additional vaccines, and launch public education campaigns. .The state of emergency will permit emergency responders to administer monkeypox vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. California’s response to monkeypox builds on plans it enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to deploy vaccine clinics and engage in targeted outreach. .California health leaders urged the American government in July to make more monkeypox vaccines available to help the state out. The California government said it provided more than 25,000 monkeypox vaccine doses and will be allocating more to be injected in the coming weeks. .The statement said California expanded its testing system to process more than 1,000 monkeypox tests per week. It added the state government has been working with laboratories to bolster testing capacity. .The California government said the state continues to promote education initiatives to inform people about monkeypox and how to prevent its spread. It has been running online ads to raise awareness. .San Francisco enacted a state of emergency against monkeypox on Thursday after the first few deaths from the virus were reported. .READ MORE: San Fran, New York declare state of emergencies over monkeypox as first sufferers die.“We know this virus impacts everyone equally, but we also know those in our LGBTQ community are at greater risk right now,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. .“This local emergency will allow us to continue to support our most at-risk, while also better preparing for what’s to come.”.The Illinois government has declared monkeypox a public health emergency. .“MPV is a rare, but potentially serious disease that requires the full mobilization of all available public health resources to prevent the spread,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker..“That’s why I am declaring a state of emergency to ensure smooth coordination between state agencies and all levels of government, thereby increasing our ability to prevent and treat the disease quickly."
