San Francisco Declares Local Health Emergency Due to Monkeypox Spread

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - San Francisco, California has proclaimed a local health emergency due to the spread of monkeypox, Mayor London Breed said on Friday.

"This past weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a Global Health Emergency. Today, our Department of Public Health is taking action to declare a Local Public Health Emergency to help us better prepare for the spread of this virus," Breed said on social media.

She stressed that the city is currently experiencing an urgent need for more vaccines, yet San Francisco administration is unable to facilitate the process of vaccine acquisition, since it is managed by the federal and state health departments.

"The federal government distributes vaccine to state health departments and then the California Department of Public Health allocates to counties, such as San Francisco. We have no control over the vaccine amount we receive. San Francisco needs more support, and we need more action. That's why we are declaring a Local Emergency," the mayor added.

The Local Health Emergency seeks to reinforce the city's preparedness for tackling the virus through mobilizing resources, accelerating emergency planning, coordinating agencies activities, and raising awareness among the population of San Francisco about the steps everyone can take to avert the monkeypox spread, Breed specified.

The first case of monkeypox was reported in San Francisco on June 3, and since then the number of cases has been steadily growing both in the city and worldwide, according to the mayor.

On July 23, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the monkeypox outbreak an international public health emergency. Over 18,000 cases have been reported worldwide in 78 countries so far.