Florida Monkeypox Cases Rising But Ron DeSantis Says He Will Not Declare a State of Emergency

The administration of President Joe Biden on Thursday declared a public health emergency for the monkeypox outbreak. But despite this, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been relentlessly pushing back in treating the virus as an emergency.

DeSantis has again expressed his disagreement with the White House decisions, noting that the outbreak was "overblown." Florida's monkeypox cases have ballooned to over 570, making them the third state with the highest number of cases.

Joe Biden Administration Declares Monkeypox Outbreak a Public Health Emergency

After several governors placed their respective states in a public health emergency because of the monkeypox outbreak, the White House followed suit.

The Biden administration declared a public health emergency as the U.S. outbreak had grown into the largest in the world, Associated Press reported.

This move will free up money and other resources to curb the rising cases of the virus, which has been primarily affecting many members of the LGBTQ+ community.

However, despite the declaration, the state of Florida is standing its ground on not declaring a public health emergency. Ron DeSantis noted that his state will not bow to fear in response to the outbreak.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monkeypox Outbreak

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he will not declare a public health emergency in his state.

For DeSantis, declaring such an emergency is an attempt to sow fear among people. He has also hit the leaders of states that have declared public health emergencies, like New York Governor Kathy Hochul, saying it was a move to limit freedom.

"I am so sick of politicians - and we saw this with COVID - trying to sow fear into the population. We had people calling, mothers worried about whether their kids could catch it at school," DeSantis noted.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) monkeypox case map, the current case count for the entire United States has hit 7,102.

New York, which Kathy Hochul governs, accounts for 1,748 (24.61%) cases, which is the highest in the nation. California follows suit, with 826 (11.63%), while Florida has 577 (8.12%).

Asked if DeSantis would reconsider declaring an emergency once the case spiked further, his office provided a rather vague response.

''Our public health decisions in Florida will be based on facts, not fear," DeSantis' office wrote to WESH 2.

Florida Monkeypox Vaccine Availability, Efficacy

Ron DeSantis' surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, affirmed Wednesday that Florida had an "adequate" number of monkeypox vaccines.

But Ladapo has again downplayed the effectiveness of the monkeypox vaccines as he did on the COVID-19 vaccines. Ladapo claimed that very little data exists on their effectiveness.

The United States is suffering from a nationwide shortage of monkeypox vaccines after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to secure bulk orders of the monkeypox vaccine.

The New York Times reported that the next half a million doses of monkeypox vaccine will be delivered in October.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

WATCH: Debate Over Potential Monkeypox State of Emergency - From WFLA News Channel 8