Monkeypox

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday that COVID-19 rules will be eased for New York’s schoolchildren this year, and masks and social distancing will no longer be required.

For many in the LGBTQ community, the emergence of monkeypox is drawing parallels to another major public health crisis that was first dismissed as a “gay disease,” until heterosexuals began contracting it. Health experts say while the risk remains very low for most people, it’s unwise to dismiss monkeypox as an illness passed exclusively by homosexual contact, or exclusively by any sexual contact.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that she and state health officials are confronting the ongoing outbreaks of two diseases, COVID-19 and monkeypox.

New York state’s health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, said Tuesday that monkeypox continues to spread, and people should be aware of the risk and how to access the limited supply of vaccines.