The city of San Francisco declared a state of emergency on Thursday over the monkeypox outbreak.
Why it matters: San Francisco has one of the highest case rates of monkeypox in the United States, KRON4 reports, and the disease was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization last week.
Details: An emergency declaration could help create more "flexibility" to increase testing and vaccine distribution, and "allow us to use all the resources in our power to contain the outbreak," state Sen. Scott Wiener, who called for the declaration, said in a statement.
What they're saying: In a post outlining the declaration, San Fransisco Mayor London Breed said the local emergency would "strengthen the City's preparedness" by allowing it to "mobilize City recourses," "streamline staffing," and "coordinate agencies across the city."
- "During COVID, we used our Local Emergency to pop up emergency vaccine sites. To deploy workers to immediate needs. To be able to move government bureaucracy nimbly to confront the virus," Breed added. "That's the kind of actions this Local Emergency will allow us to do."
By the numbers: More than 260 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed in San Fransisco as of Wednesday, and 799 cases in total have been reported across California.
- U.S. health officials said Wednesday that 800,000 vaccine doses for monkeypox would soon be made available for distribution.
Zoom in: The San Francisco Department of Public Health said it expects to receive 4,220 doses this week.
- And, SF General Hospital will open its walk-in, vaccine clinic starting on Monday, August 1 at 8 am.
