Brooks County attorney David Garcia made the announcement to local media after receiving complaints from citizen snitches they’d seen people who tested positive shopping at local stores.
“If you’re going to go out and endanger other people, and we find out about it, we will prosecute you,” Garcia told KIII TV.
“People have not really embraced the dangers of COVID-19. It’s dangerous. It’s killing people, and it’s making people very sick. So either do it because you’re concerned about others or do it because you’re going to be punished if you don’t.”
Garcia says the county could charge positive coronavirus patients who choose to go out with violating any number of statutes, but does not specify the statutes.
“There’s a number of statutes out there that can be used so once you test positive, stay home,” Garcia ordered.
“This is the only way we can prevent this disease is on an individual basis,” he said. “We need to be responsible for our actions, and if we’re not going to be responsible for our actions because we’re trying to protect other people, well there’s a punishment for it, too.”
If you think this is overkill, consider Brooks County, with a population of over 7,200 people, currently only has 10 confirmed COVID-19 cases and has had zero deaths attributed to the virus.
