A physician has been placed on administrative leave after being involved in an altercation over social distancing.

Police in Kentucky have not yet charged the man who was caught on video shoving three young women and choking another because they were gathered together in a park, despite advice not to socialise in groups to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) is investigating him on a possible charge of strangulation after the incident in Norton Commons on Friday. First degree strangulation is a felony charge in Kentucky.

A police report says that an 18-year-old woman suffered minor injuries after the “suspect applied pressure to victim’s throat and impeded her breathing.”

The video of the incident shows the man, who was accompanied by a woman, confronting the group of young women at the Norton Commons amphitheatre.

The person who posted the video says the man and woman, who identified themselves as physicians, approached the group for failing to follow social distancing guidelines.

In the video the man shoves the teenage girls, and WHAS ABC 11 reports that he grabbed a girl who allegedly took the phone of the woman with him.

“Obviously, we do not advise individuals concerned about social distancing to take matters into their own hands and confront people about it, especially in any physical way,” LMPD said. “We ask people who are concerned about large gatherings to call 311 or 911 to report their concerns.”

The physician's employer, Southern Indiana Anesthesia Consultants (SIAC) released a statement on Monday through a PR agency.

“SIAC, a division of One Anesthesia PLLC is aware of the incident that occurred in Norton Commons with one of its physicians, who was not on official call or due to report to the hospital in any official capacity. With that said, the partners of SIAC, a division of One Anesthesia PLLC have decided to place the physician that appeared in the video on administrative leave as of April 5th pending further investigation. Our well wishes extend to all parties involved and we will continue to monitor this situation as new information develops,” said the statement from Boxcar PR.

Kentucky has a total of 1,057 cases as of Tuesday, and has recorded 52 deaths.