Newsom declares Monkeypox State of Emergency

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a State of Emergency to combat the outbreak of Monkeypox in the Golden State.

“California is working urgently across all levels of government to slow the spread of monkeypox, leveraging our robust testing, contact tracing and community partnerships strengthened during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk are our focus for vaccines, treatment and outreach,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “We’ll continue to work with the federal government to secure more vaccines, raise awareness about reducing risk, and stand with the LGBTQ community fighting stigmatization.” The emergency declaration is designed to help expand vaccinations and outreach efforts.

As of July 28, 786 people had been diagnosed with Monkeypox in California with the vast majority self-identifying as men who have sex with men, according to the California Department of Public Health.

California has administered 25,000 doses of the Monkeypox vaccine and plans to make additional doses available in the coming days, the governor’s office said.

As of last week, the state had expanded its testing capacity to process more than 1,000 tests per week.