The government said on Friday that preparations have been well on track to handle any imported cases of monkeypox as well as any possible local outbreak.

Besides the purchase of the vaccine, authorities have arranged to reserve facilities for the quarantine of close contacts of confirmed monkeypox cases, said a government spokesman.

The statement wrote that Hong Kong has not recorded any confirmed monkeypox human infection cases so far, while the World Health Organization has recently noticed signs that the monkeypox epidemic in some areas, such as Europe, has eased.

However, the statement noted that the government will continue to be on guard against local transmission of the disease.

“Infection control experts in the Hospital Authority have reviewed the public hospitals' preparedness to manage monkeypox patients… [and] has formulated a contingency plan.

“[The] CHP plans to arrange monkeypox vaccination on a voluntary basis for close contacts of confirmed cases to prevent the onset of disease, as well as pre-exposure prophylaxis for persons at high risk of exposure, such as healthcare workers responsible for caring for monkeypox patients, laboratory staff, animal care personnel and any other high risk groups in the community when there is a documented transmission chain.” The statement read.