LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- A judge has ordered two Louisville residents to stay inside their home after refusing to isolate themselves amid COVID-19 concerns.
The two people live in the same home near Bardstown Road and Hikes Lane. One has tested positive for the highly contagious illness, but the other has not, according to the order issued Friday by Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Charles Cunningham.
Both were ordered to stay home and isolate themselves.
The person who tested positive on March 23 was discovered by health officials taking a walk on March 26, Cunningham said in an interview.
The health department also indicated the other person was refusing to stay inside, Cunningham said.
Cunningham put both on home incarceration and had them fitted with global positioning devices. They have been ordered to stay home until at least April 6, if not longer.
The pair will be monitored by the sheriff's department and could face criminal charges if they violate the court order.
The order has not been released publicly yet as Cunningham said there may be arguments about how much of the case to seal.
Currently, the order identifies the two people only by their initials, B.B. and P.B.
There have been several similar incidents in Kentucky know where someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 has refused to stay home.
Last week, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Angela McCormick Bisig ordered a man to stay in home incarceration and be fitted with a global positioning device and monitored by the sheriff's department after he went out shopping after learning he was infected.
Jefferson County courts have set up an on-call judge now for these types of cases.
Tracy Dotson, a spokesman for Metro Corrections FOP, said corrections officers are having to apply the home incarceration devices to people who have the coronavirus and then are not being given tests themselves.
"The FOP obviously has an issue with exposing Metro Corrections officers to people confirmed to have the virus and then sending them back to work without testing them," Dotson said. Officers are "endangering the public by exposing ourselves to the virus then not getting tested. We could be spreading it with everyone else we encounter including other law enforcement agencies, healthcare workers, and the general public as well as our own families."
Chief Circuit Court Judge Angela Bisig said this is the first time the issue has been brought to her attention and "I hope they have the equipment to keep themselves safe."
Dotson said officers have personal protective equipment but still worry they might get sick. And he said officers are also concerned about the legality of monitoring citizens who haven't been charged with a crime.
Still, he said, the FOP would be "much more comfortable doing this job, legal or not, if they were being tested after exposure."
Steve Durham, a spokesman for the jail, said a doctor would need to answer whether a person wearing protective equipment would need to be tested.
He also said the person who is sick also wears a mask while both the sheriff's department and correction officers have on protective gear.
"We are using the precautions recommended by the CDC and healthcare community," he said.
In Judge Bisig's case, the city used receipts to find out who was shopping at the same time as the man and looked at store shift logs to identify employees who were on duty.
The man is prohibited from leaving his home until at least April 4, according to the order.
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