Here we go again. The Biden administration has just declared monkeypox a public health emergency after cases surge to 6,600 in the US.
Via NBC San Diego:
The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Thursday as cases topped 6,600 nationwide.
The declaration could facilitate access to emergency funds, allow health agencies to collect more data about cases and vaccinations, accelerate vaccine distribution and make it easier for doctors to prescribe treatment.
A quarter of U.S. cases are in New York state, which declared a state of emergency last week. California and Illinois followed suit with emergency declarations Monday.
Monkeypox is rarely fatal, and there have been no deaths in the U.S. during the current outbreak.
6,600 is an infinitesimal number given the population size. I’m not sure how that small number of cases constitute a public health emergency, especially when the disease is non-fatal and non-permanent and is mainly spread through close skin-to-skin contact. Which means it isn’t a threat to the general public.
In fact, Healthline states that “most monkeypox cases are in men who have sex with other men”. But they stress that it isn’t an STD and can be passed in other ways.
So why call this a public health emergency? I don’t know, but I guess scaring people in an election year is very important to Democrats who are in desperation mode. More mail-in ballots!