It would be absurd if this were common or if they did it for, say, Covid. But this is an extreme case where the woman spent years defying court orders to either

It would be absurd if this were common or if they did it for, say, Covid. But this is an extreme case where the woman spent years defying court orders to either get treatment or to isolate. No one was forcing her to get treatment, and there are many income-adjusted means of getting health care in this country (including free health care). It's likely her county would have paid for her treatment if she couldn't afford it, considering the court order. It would be much more absurd if this woman were allowed to continue spreading a serious illness to people who didn't know they got it and couldn't afford treatment. The harm to the guilty woman is much smaller than the harm she has caused others. She may have even killed people.