SAN DIEGO—San Diego County supervisors unanimously ratified a state of emergency Aug. 9 in response to the monkeypox outbreak in an attempt to bolster vaccination efforts.
The ratification follows a state declaration last week and will need to be ratified again every 30 days, as needed. The state of emergency declaration will allow the county to seek state assistance and use public health infrastructure for testing, contact tracing, and case investigation.
Several dozen public speakers argued in opposition to the declaration, with arguments sometimes delving into conspiracy theories and homophobia.
Of 98 total cases as of Aug. 7 reported throughout the county, all were male, and 86 self-identified as gay or bisexual. While monkeypox has been spreading locally among the LGBTQ+ community, it is not isolated to that subgroup and the risk of contracting monkeypox for the public remains very low, according to health officials….