The ongoing outbreak of the viral disease, monkeypox, has just gotten worse. In May 2022, medical officials across the United States noticed a severe spike in monkeypox cases throughout the entirety of the country. Not looking to go through another pandemic, American citizens have been taking every possible precaution in order to keep themselves and others away from the disease. However, United States President Joe Biden has recently declared monkeypox to be a national health emergency throughout all 50 states.
Xavier Becerra, secretary to the Department of Health and Human Services, gave the initial announcement to the country this past Thursday, August 4, 2022 – “In light of evolving circumstances on the ground, I am declaring a public health emergency on #monkeypox,” Becerra stated. “We are prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously.”
President Biden went on to support Becerra’s declaration by giving his own opinions on the matter at hand: “I remain committed to our monkeypox response; ramping-up vaccine distribution, expanding testing and educating at-risk communities… That is why today’s public health emergency declaration on the virus is critical to confronting this outbreak with the urgency it warrants.”
The monkeypox virus has affected the lives of over 6,600 citizens during this year alone, making it very possible for an extension of the public health emergency. Symptoms of this specific disease range anywhere from obtaining body aches, fatigue, chills, fever, and having various ‘pimple-like bumps’ on all parts of the body. Representatives of the White House vocalized that they now have approximately 1.1 million monkeypox vaccination available, along with a total capacity of serving 80,000 tests each week.