A government minister has said monkeypox will not be "some repeat of covid" as the virus continues to spread around the UK. Simon Clark, the chief secretary to the Treasury, issued the reassurance today as he said he was "cautious, but I am certainly not concerned".
The minster told Sky News: “As with any new disease, and obviously after the covid pandemic doubly so, we continue to monitor this very closely. I would say I am cautious but I am certainly not concerned about our ability to handle the situation.
“There is a vaccine which is available and works for monkeypox, and all the evidence is that it is spread by physical contact. That being the case, the risk of community transmission is much lower, we have a working vaccine, if people present with symptoms or have very close contact, then we are advising that they quarantine for three weeks but the threshold for that is quite high – it really does have to be close physical or sexual contact."
Read more - Monkeypox UK cases: What are the symptoms and should I be worried?
He added: "We are cautious but we are certainly not in a position where I would in anyway worry the public that this is some repeat of covid, because it certainly does not appear to be anywhere near the same platform of seriousness."
The UK Health Security Agency says 20 cases have been identified in the UK since May 6. Almost all of those have been found in London and the south east, and many of them have been detected in gay and bisexual men.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, told reporters today: "[Monkeypox] basically very rare disease, and so far the consequences don’t seem to be very serious but it’s important that we keep an eye on it and that’s exactly what the the new UK Health Security Agency is doing."
He added: “It hasn’t yet proved, fatal in any case that we know of, certainly not in this country.” The risk to the UK public remains low, according to the HSA.
Monkeypox is generally considered a mild illness from which infected individuals recover naturally within a few weeks. The variant circulating in the UK is the west African strain, which is considered less serious than the central African strain.
