New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Monday following Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declaring a state of emergency last week, as the mayor claimed the outbreak “continues to grow” in the city.
“As the monkeypox outbreak continues to grow in New York City and across the country, I am today issuing an emergency executive order declaring a local state of emergency,” Adams said in a Monday statement, explaining that the city now has over 1,200 cases, comprising “approximately 25 percent of cases nationally.”
Numbers, he added, are continuing to rise.
“This order will bolster our existing efforts to educate, vaccinate, test, and treat as many New Yorkers as possible and ensure a whole-of-government response to this outbreak. In partnership with federal, state, and local officials we will continue to respond with the urgency required to keep people safe, and this order is another tool to help us do so,” he said.
NEW YORK CITY, US – JULY 14: People wait in line for monkey pox vaccination after Monkey pox appointment website in New York City crashed on due to overwhelming traffic, local sources said on Thursday, July 14. Local authorities announced that the number of cases is increasing across the country, including in New York City. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
His announcement follows action taken by Gov. Hochul on Friday, declaring a State Disaster Emergency over monkeypox.
“This Executive Order enables us to respond more swiftly, and allows health care professionals to take additional steps that will help get more New Yorkers vaccinated,” Hochul said, adding that “more than one in four monkeypox cases in this country are in New York, currently having a disproportionate impact on at-risk groups.”
“We are working around the clock to secure more vaccines, expand testing capacity, and educate New Yorkers on how to stay safe,” she added:
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said most of the cases are spreading through sexual contact — primarily among men who have sex with other men.
“With more than one-quarter of all cases in the U.S., New Yorkers, and especially our LGBTQ+ community, remain among the hardest-hit,” Hochul said in a statement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. has 5,189 confirmed cases of the illness, the most of which are in New York and California. Similarly, the City of San Francisco declared a public health emergency over the monkeypox outbreak as well.
A recent Annenberg Public Policy Center survey found that the vast majority of Americans, 81 percent, are “not too worried” or “not at all worried” about catching monkeypox, but a result of the rise in cases, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is urging gay men to reduce their number of sexual partners.
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