The Biden administration has officially declared a national state of emergency over the monkeypox outbreak affecting roughly 6,000 people in the country.
“I want to make an announcement today that I will be declaring a public health emergency,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a phone call with reporters according to the New York Post. “We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus.”
“We urge every American to kick monkey pox seriously and to take responsibility and help us tackle this virus,” Becerra added.
Over 6,000 cases of the disease have been reported domestically, predominantly affecting men who have had sexual contact with other men.
JUST IN – HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra declares #monkeypox a public health emergency in the United States. pic.twitter.com/FUS1CNbgaW
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 4, 2022
Biden White House Covid coordinator Ashish Jha admitted during a press conference in July that LGBT community is the group “most affected” by the monkeypox outbreak, and warned audiences to “not use this moment to propagate homophobic or transphobic messaging.”
“I wanted to go back to monkeypox and ask what the government’s response is to some of the backlash regarding the messaging and language that could perpetuate homophobia and transphobia like we saw during the HIV epidemic?” a reporter asked.
“Are there specific things you’re concerned about?” Jha replied. “I mean, I think, very clear at this point, that the community most affected most affected is the LGBTQ community. Um, this is one of the reasons we’ve been deeply engaged with them.”
“You know, obviously it’s really important that we do not use this moment to propagate homophobic or transphobic messaging, and i think that it’s really important to stick to the science, stick to the evidence, and do it in a way that’s respectable to people,” he added.
