Kentucky deputies surrounded the house of a man who refused to self-quarantine

As of Monday, 25 people in Kentucky tested positive for COVID-19 and while 24 voluntarily cooperated to self-quarantine, one unnamed 53-year-old man refused to follow medical advice, The Washington Post reported. After checking himself out of a University of Louisville hospital against doctors’ advice, the man told the local health department he would not follow an order to isolate himself from others. As a result, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office stationed deputies outside the man’s home over the weekend to enforce a quarantine and ensure he does not spread the virus to others. The county judge-executive had to declare a state of emergency in order to invoke a statute that allowed him to force a “self-isolation or quarantine,” according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. “It’s a step I hoped I’d never have to take, but we can’t allow one person who we know has the virus to refuse to protect their neighbors,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press conference on Saturday. “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,” Beshear added. The state government has closed religious institutions, schools, and limited the number of visitors to nursing homes and jails to curb the spread of the virus.