A Kentucky couple has been placed on house arrest and fitted with ankle monitors after the woman tested positive for coronavirus but would not sign documents pledging to self-quarantine and notify the health department whenever she went anywhere, according to reports.
Elizabeth Linscott of Hardin County got tested for COVID-19 last week because she was preparing to visit her parents in Michigan, WAVE-TV reported.
“My grandparents wanted to see me, too,” Linscott said. “So, just to make sure if I tested negative, that they would be OK, that everything would be fine.”
Linscott said she tested positive, but she had no symptoms of the virus. A short time later, she said, the county health department contacted her and asked her to sign a document that she would not travel anywhere without first calling the health department. She said she decided not to sign the document, called a Self-isolation and Controlled Movement Agreed Order.
“My part was if I have to go to the ER, if I have to go to the hospital, I’m not going to wait to get the approval to go,” she said, adding that she “would take necessary precautions if she needed to go to the hospital, like letting workers know she has recently tested positive for COVID-19.”
Just days after refusing to sign the document, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Department arrived at her home.
“I open up the door, and there’s like eight different people, five different cars,” said her husband, Isaiah, who was home at the time. “I’m like, ‘What the heck’s going on?’ This guy’s in a suit with a mask. It’s the health department guy, and he has three papers for us — for me, her and my daughter.”
The law enforcement officials ordered the couple to wear ankle monitors, which will notify the officials if either Elizabeth or Isaiah travel more than 200 feet.
“We didn’t rob a store. We didn’t steal something. We didn’t hit and run. We didn’t do anything wrong,” Elizabeth said.
She also said they never refused to self-quarantine. “That’s exactly what the director of the Public Health Department told the judge, that I was refusing to self-quarantine because of this, and that’s not the case at all,” she said. “I never said that.”
Some municipalities are getting extreme with penalties connected with COVID-19, like the wearing of masks. West Hollywood, for instance, is threatening massive fines.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department West Hollywood Station said Wednesday it would start citing people for not wearing face coverings,” effective immediately, CBS-LA reported. “The department said it took the step after receiving a number of complaints about people not wearing face coverings in West Hollywood.”
The fines start out low but soar for repeat offenders. For a first offense, there’s a $250 fine plus $50 processing fee, the sheriff’s department said in a statement. The second offense brings a $1,000 fine, the third a $2,000 fine — and for a fourth offense, a whopping $5,000 fine.