Monkeypox was declared as a public health emergency on August 5th by the Biden Administration. It’s no surprise that Monkeypox is extremely dangerous. It can cause your whole body to have infections and destroy your vision. Monkeypox spreads through close, skin to skin contact. 

One of the main places kids come into contact with each other is school. So, should schools really shut down? 

To find out, we have to see what the coronavirus numbers were like the last time school shut down. Madison County Schools completely shut down around March 13, 2020 when Coronavirus was considered a state of emergency. The World Health Organization had this to say about Monkeypox, ‘’It’s an evolving threat of moderate public health concern.”

While obviously not as bad as a state of emergency, a public health concern is a concern. While there are 11,000 cases in the US overall, there are only about 30 cases in Alabama as of August 15th, compared to the 1.5 million Covid cases. “Coronavirus remains a bigger concern for teachers.” said president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.

“We’ve asked the federal government and the CDC to put out real protocols in terms of best practices when it comes to monkeypox,” said Weingarten.