NY declares state disaster emergency for monkeypox outbreak
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New York Governor declares a disaster emergency over the monkeypox outbreak, only a week after the White House coronavirus response coordinator claimed "monkeypox can be contained, absolutely."
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul (AP)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared in a tweet on Friday an emergency in the state over the continued spread of monkeypox.
"I am declaring a State Disaster Emergency to strengthen our ongoing efforts to confront the monkeypox outbreak," Hochul wrote.
New York state had a total of 1,383 confirmed monkeypox cases as of July 29, according to the New York Department of Health's website.
Just a week ago, however, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, told CBS News Talk that he was confident the authorities could "eliminate" monkeypox from the US.
"I think monkeypox can be contained, absolutely," Jha said. "The plan is to eliminate this virus from the United States. I think we can do that."
On July 23, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the monkeypox outbreak to be a global health emergency - the highest alarm the UN agency can sound.
