American couple under house arrest after refusing to sign self-isolation order

A couple from Kentucky, USA was placed under house arrest last week for refusing to sign a self-isolation order after the wife showed a positive test result for COVID-19. Isaiah and Elizabeth Linscott said that authorities from both the Sheriff's Office and the Health Department all showed up and came knocking on their door presenting them with self-isolation orders to sign.

The orders came after the woman went for voluntary testing prior to travelling out of state to visit her parents on July 11. Her test came out positive even though she was not manifesting symptoms. The couple was then given a Self-isolation and Controlled Movement Agreed Order which restricts them and all their children in the confines of their home unless she initiates contact with the Hardin County Health Department for any need or concern to go off property. Since the couple refused to sign the order, the health department informed them that doing so could only escalate the case and would involve law enforcement.

Stating her main reason for declining to sign the order, Elizabeth Linscott says having to do this means they would have to wait for approval of officials before she is able to drive out and seek urgent medical treatment in the event she becomes gravely sick. "I'm not going to wait to get the approval to go," she added.

In her defence, she claims that although she declined to sign the order, she would have followed required precautionary and safety protocols if it came to the point where she needed to go to the hospital for treatment.

The surprise visit from the Hardin County Health Department and Sheriff's Office came with hardened orders to sign as well as ankle monitors to alert authorities should they go beyond 200 feet off their property. Both husband and wife recalled how five different cars rolled up and eight men in suits and masks show up at their door.

In a TV interview with WAVE 3 news, the couple says the incident makes them feel like criminals.

"'We didn't rob a store, we didn't steal something, we didn't hit and run, we didn't do anything wrong," Elizabeth Linscott told reporters.

As cases continue to surge across the United States with 3.7 million infected and 140,000 recorded deaths, Kentucky is among the states that have reopened and eased the lockdown with about 23,000 cases and 670 deaths on record to date.