Coronavirus-stricken Kentucky Man Refuses to Quarantine, So Cops Are Guarding His House
By THERESA BRAINE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
MAR 16, 2020 | 5:57 PM
A Kentucky man who tested positive for coronavirus and refused to quarantine himself is now being guarded by police, Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday.
The 53-year-old Nelson County man tested positive at the University of Louisville, then left against medical advice, Beshear told reporters, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. After health authorities asked him to self-quarantine, he said no.
The man has been confined to his home by a police guard stationed nearby, Beshear said.
To enforce the quarantine, a local judge had to declare a state of emergency to make use of an obscure statutory ability to enforce a “self-isolation or quarantine,” the Herald-Leader said.
“It’s a step I hoped I never had to take, but we can’t allow one person we know who has this virus to refuse to protect their neighbors,” Beshear said, according to the Herald-Leader. “We’ve got to make sure that people who have tested positive, that we know could be spreading the virus, and simply refuse to do the right thing, do the right thing.”
Kentucky now has 18 cases, with at least two dozen tests pending, the Associated Press said. Across the state, schools and day care centers are being closed, and hospitals have been instructed to stop performing elective procedures, the Herald-Leader said.
“We just have to do what it takes to lessen the spread of this coronavirus,” Beshear said at a news conference, according to the Herald-Leader. “And I don’t want to be the governor that waits two weeks too late to take some of those steps.”
Theresa Braine has written breaking news for the New York Daily News National Desk since November 2018, with an emphasis on environmental reporting and indigenous issues. She has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent based in Mexico City and has been a copy editor and copy chief for various national magazines.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
MAR 16, 2020 | 5:57 PM
A Kentucky man who tested positive for coronavirus and refused to quarantine himself is now being guarded by police, Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday.
The 53-year-old Nelson County man tested positive at the University of Louisville, then left against medical advice, Beshear told reporters, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. After health authorities asked him to self-quarantine, he said no.
The man has been confined to his home by a police guard stationed nearby, Beshear said.
To enforce the quarantine, a local judge had to declare a state of emergency to make use of an obscure statutory ability to enforce a “self-isolation or quarantine,” the Herald-Leader said.
“It’s a step I hoped I never had to take, but we can’t allow one person we know who has this virus to refuse to protect their neighbors,” Beshear said, according to the Herald-Leader. “We’ve got to make sure that people who have tested positive, that we know could be spreading the virus, and simply refuse to do the right thing, do the right thing.”
Kentucky now has 18 cases, with at least two dozen tests pending, the Associated Press said. Across the state, schools and day care centers are being closed, and hospitals have been instructed to stop performing elective procedures, the Herald-Leader said.
“We just have to do what it takes to lessen the spread of this coronavirus,” Beshear said at a news conference, according to the Herald-Leader. “And I don’t want to be the governor that waits two weeks too late to take some of those steps.”
Theresa Braine has written breaking news for the New York Daily News National Desk since November 2018, with an emphasis on environmental reporting and indigenous issues. She has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent based in Mexico City and has been a copy editor and copy chief for various national magazines.
No comments:
Post a Comment