Health Officials Can Enforce Quarantine [POLL]

The past couple of couple of days have been remarkable watching schools announce closings, libraries shut down and even some restaurants consider closing their dining rooms over concern about the new coronavirus. It's been only about two weeks since the first positive case of COVID-19 was announced in a New York City health-care worker March 1.

Since that time, the number of positive cases in New York has grown to 524 as of Saturday, with the first death — an 82-year-old New York City woman — also reported Saturday. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the woman had emphysema and died 10 days after she was hospitalized.

On a flight from New York to Florida Wednesday, a passenger found out in midair he tested positive for COVID-19, the New York Times said. The crew overheard the man talking about it — he had taken the test a couple of days prior — and notified health officials.

The passengers were held on the tarmac after landing in Palm Beach, Florida, for two hours until they were told about the man's condition.

JetBlue subsequently banned the man from future flights, ABC News said.

The airline said that customers who aren't feeling well, or who may be infected with the new coronavirus, should not travel until they have been cleared by a doctor.

A man in Missouri was accused of breaking quarantine, imposed because of a family member's COVID-19 infection, USA Today said. Officials warned him that he and his family would be required by the "force of law" to stay put if it happened again.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "public health orders," such as mandatory quarantine, are "legally enforceable directives" issued by government entities and may be issued "to enforce isolation, quarantine or conditional release." COVID-19 is a "federally quarantinable communicable disease," the agency said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his office has gotten reports of people not following quarantine directives in the state, the Staten Island Advance said.

He said doing so dishonors other members of the community and measures can be taken to make people comply.

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.