At least four people in Kentucky have been ordered by judges to wear GPS ankle monitors for allegedly defying health officials’ advice to stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to reports.
Judges in Louisville issued the orders as the immediate region deals with 18 coronavirus cases and seven deaths as of Tuesday, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
Such orders are needed to help keep the community safe, officials said during a news briefing by Mayor Greg Fischer n Facebook on Tuesday.
The latest resident ordered to wear a GPS monitor was an individual who had not yet tested positive for the virus, but was living with one person who had and another who was believed to be infected, the Courier Journal reported.
A suspect wears an ankle monitor in San Antonio, Texas, July 27, 2015. (Associated Press)
The man refused to sign a quarantine order, according to the newspaper.
One of those ordered to stay home had instead gone shopping March 21, prompting the ankle monitor order, WHAS-TV of Louisville reported.
On Thursday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed 100 new confirmed cases of the virus in the state and 11 new deaths, bringing the state’s totals to 770 cases and 31 deaths, WYMT-TV of Hazard, Ky., reported.
Authorities in Louisville have struggled to get residents to comply with stay-at-home orders, the Courier Journal reported. Compliance measures have included removing rims from public basketball courts, the report said.
