A 53-year-old Kentucky man diagnosed with the coronavirus checked himself out of the hospital against medical advice, a decision that ultimately resulted in state authorities surrounding his home.
In a press conference, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) confirmed that due to “an individual who has refused to self isolate…we have taken the steps to force a [sic] isolation that will be in their home.”
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the man is a Nelson County resident who tested positive for COVID-19. Beshear and the Herald-Leader said state authorities worked with Nelson County Judge Executive Dean Watts to declare a state of emergency to invoke a seldom-used statute that allows him to “force a self-isolation or quarantine.”
A law enforcement officer is stationed outside of the man’s home, the Herald-Leader reports.
Beshear described the situation as a “step I hoped I’d never have to take, but we can’t allow one person who we know who has this virus to refuse to protect their neighbors” during the press conference.
This comes as more states take drastic enforcement action to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Six Northern California counties near the Bay Area are under a shelter-in-place order, and the town of New Rochelle in New York has been quarantined as a containment zone by Governor Andrew Cuomo (D).
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