David Whelan made headlines after CNN's Chris Cuomo called him a "loser fat tire biker" on the radio. The reason Chris was made was that David had snitched on him for being out of quarantine. Cuomo had been in quarantine for Coronavirus and decided to make the most of his condition by letting his news station profile his struggle. Cuomo's actions did a lot to reduced the social stigma towards Coronavirus victims by giving America a face with the virus to see on the news every night.
Whelan himself claimed to have said, "You're supposed to be quarantining, what are you doing out?" Then he admitted to filing a police report. This is the kind of social distancing snitch that has plagued the country in recent months. They see people that are not social distancing and call the police. When they do this they are probably not thinking about the risk to police officers if the person they confront based on their complaint actually has COVID-19. Then if they are arrested the entire jail is put at risk.
In jails it is not possible to socially distance inmates beyond putting them on lockdown in their cells. Just being in the jail is problematic. When someone is arrested they are always taken to jail for a booking photo and finger printing before they can post bail. While waiting for the recognizance officer to tell them if they have to post bail they are placed in a crowded holding cell with members of the public plucked off the street.
Whether Whelan realized it or not, he endangered the life of Chris Cuomo and everyone at the Suffolk County Jail by making that call. Just talking to Cuomo could have resulted in the contacting officers contracting the virus. Then what about anyone else they contact on the street? Anyone they take to jail after that would likely pass the virus to the inmate population.
People often do not think of the big picture when they decide to snitch on someone. They think about why they are mad enough to call the cops and that is it. People really need to consider the broader consequences and ask themselves if it is worth the risk to human life to ask the police to solve their problems.