Couple under house arrest after refusing to sign COVID-19 quarantine agreement

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky -- A Kentucky couple is under house arrest after one of them tested positive for coronavirus and refused to sign self-quarantine papers.

Elizabeth Linscott got tested for COVID-19 because she was planning to go visit her parents.

"My grandparents wanted to see me, too, so, just to make sure that, you know, if I tested negative, that they would be okay, everything would be fine," Linscott said.

After testing positive but without showing any symptoms, Linscott told WAVE-TV the health department contacted her, requesting she sign documents.

"I agreed to comply to call the Health Department if I was to go. I was to call the Health Department if I was to leave my house for any reason," she said.

But, she chose not to sign.

"I had gotten a message from them, a text message that stated, because of your refusal to sign, this is going to be escalated, and law enforcement will be involved," she said.

Later that week, the county sheriff greeted Linscott's husband, Isaiah, at their front door.

"I open up the door, and there's like eight different people, five different cars, and 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 they have three papers for us. For me, her and my daughter," he said.

The couple was ordered to wear ankle monitors. If they travel more than 200 feet, law enforcement will be notified.

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"We didn't rob a store. We didn't steal something. We didn't hit and run. We didn't do anything wrong," Linscott said.

The couple said they never denied self-quarantining. They just didn't agree with the wording of the documents.

And, 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 I'm like, 'that's not the case at all. I never said that,'" she said.

Linscott said even without the ankle monitor, she had planned to be cautious, and if she had needed medical care, she would have let healthcare workers know she was infected with the virus.

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