What does a monkeypox state of emergency mean in California?

Brianna Taylor

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Monday in response to the spread of monekypox across the state.

But what does that mean and how does it affect your everyday life?

Here’s what The Bee knows so far:

What does a monkeypox state of emergency mean?

A government declares a state of emergency because of a crisis or a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger, according to Cornell Law School Legal information Institute.

The California government will utilize its personnel, equipment and facilities in the state of emergency plan and residents should “heed the advice of emergency officials to protect their safety,” according to the emergency proclamation. No mask or vaccination mandate has been put in place.

Essentially, the declaration will help the state government speed efforts to curb the outbreak through a statewide effort on vaccinations, testing and education.

The declaration was set to “bolster the state’s vaccination efforts,” Newsom’s office said in a Monday evening statement declaring a state of emergency in response to monkeypox, allowing emergency medical services to administer the vaccine.

The World Health Organization declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern” on July 23.

California has discharged more than 25,000 monkeypox vaccines and plans to give out more soon, Newsom’s office wrote. Depending on the number of reported monekypox cases and number of at-risk residents in your area, the state will allocate vaccines to your local health department.

“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,” Newsom said.

While monkeypox is racking cases daily, California is still feeling the pressure of COVID-19 years after Newsom declared it a state of emergency. The declaration has allowed Newsom to access federal funding and to override state laws while carrying out California’s pandemic response.

How many people have been infected with monkeypox?

Monkeypox isn’t new.

Before this year’s outbreak, the first human case of monkeypox was detected in 1970, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first California monekypox case was discovered on May 24 in a resident who recently returned from international travel.

Roughly 800 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in California, the second-highest count behind New York (1,390), according to the CDC’s monkeypox U.S. cases map, last updated Monday.

The U.S. recorded 5,811 cases, with zero cases detected in Montana and Wyoming, according to the CDC map.

Sacramento County has a total of 52 monkeypox cases as of Tuesday, according to the Sacramento County Department Health Services.

Am I eligible for the vaccine?

Monkeypox vaccines are scarce. And while some people are at higher risk of contracting the disease, anyone can become infected.

Sacramento County Public Health Department recommends men who have sex with men and transgender people who meet one or more of these factors should get vaccinated against monkeypox:

  • Those who have tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection in the last two months.

  • Those who have had more than two sexual partners in the past three weeks.

  • Those who visited or worked at a commercial sex venue in the last three weeks.

  • Those who have had sex within the last three weeks with others they do not know.

The California Department of Public Health is also committed to “reducing stigma among the LGBTQ community, which has been singled out and treated unfairly because of this outbreak,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, the director of the California Department of Public Health, according to a previous Bee report.

“No single individual or community is to blame for the spread of any virus,” said the state’s public health officer.

The virus spreads through contact with bodily fluids and respiratory droplets, according to Sacramento County Public Health. But it’s not easily spread, the county wrote, and droplets “do not travel more than a few feet.“

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our California Utility Team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email utilityteam@sacbee.com.

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