CHARLESTON –Kanawha Circuit Court's chief judge has signed an order requiring people who have tested positive for Coronavirus to be required to wear an ankle bracelet if they refuse to self-quarantine.
Chief Judge Charles King entered the order April 6 allowing the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, with direction from Kanawha-Charleston Chief Health Officer Dr. Sherri Young, to issue GPS ankle monitoring bracelets to those who refuse to quarantine. Young also has authority to issue a quarantine order for those who refuse to cooperate. Kentucky recently did the same thing to try to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Chief Judge King and Sheriff (MIke) Rutherford have taken note that this is a serious issue," Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said in a release. "The public must realize that if you have COVID-19, you need to quarantine per the direction of the Chief Health Officer. We do not want to use the GPS ankle bracelets to enforce the quarantines, however, if we must we will. This must be taken seriously."
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Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango agreed.
“Those who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 must comply with Dr. Young’s quarantine order," he said in the statement. "Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that a few COVID-19 positive patients have ignored Dr. Young’s order and are jeopardizing the health of others.
"We must take all reasonable steps to protect the public from the spread of this virus.”
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said officials must do "all that we can" to help slow the spread of the virus.
"We have an obligation to keep the people of Charleston and Kanawha County safe by any means necessary," she said. "This method would only be used in cases where folks that test positive are non-compliant. We must proactively have these measures in place in case we have individuals that will not quarantine."
On April 4, Gov. Jim Justice added Kanawha County to an executive order urging more social distancing efforts. It included limiting the number of people in groups to five as well as directing essential businesses to limit the number of people in a building and requiring people to work from home to the maximum extent.
As of April 6, 345 West Virginia residents have tested positive for Coronavirus, and Kanawha County leads the state with 56 cases. Seven employees of the Kanawha County Judicial Annex have tested positive, as well as the spouse of one of the employees. The Annex is closed at least until April 27.