(Reuters) – New York State Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state emergency on Friday afternoon over the continued spread of monkeypox.
“I am declaring a state disaster emergency to bolster our ongoing efforts to deal with the monkeypox outbreak,” Hochul tweeted. https://bit.ly/3oFYEMB
He added that more than one in four cases of monkeypox in the United States are in New York, which also has a disproportionate impact on at-risk groups.
As of July 29, New York State had a total of 1,383 confirmed cases of orthopoxvirus/smallpox, according to the New York Department of Health website.
Earlier on Friday, Brazil and Spain reported the first monkeypox-related deaths outside of Africa.
The World Health Organization last week declared a global health emergency, its highest alert level, over the monkeypox outbreak.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Bangalore; Editing by Toby Chopra)