Fla. couple charged with breaking COVID-19 quarantine order
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Jose Freire Interian was walking his dog near his Key West home when a neighbor began recording him on her cellphone. Hours later, police came knocking on his door with an arrest warrant and whisked Freire Interian and his wife to the county jail.
The charge: violating quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.
As a national debate swirls over masks and self-quarantines, communities are grappling over how aggressively they should enforce myriad rules meant to control the spread of the novel strain of coronavirus, which has now infected more than 460,000 in Florida and killed nearly 6,600 of its residents.
“It’s a national debate up until the health department tells you to quarantine, and then there’s no more debate,” Key West City Manager Greg Veliz said Thursday.
“If the law allows someone to be arrested for violating a quarantine order and they continue to thumb their nose at the law — yeah, they should be arrested,” Veliz said.
Intense debate over masks, business closures and social distancing have raged since the start of the outbreak. Arrests have been rare, but there have been occasional flare ups.
In May, a Kentucky woman infected with the virus was arrested while shopping for groceries. Authorities accused her of “wanton endangerment” and “criminal mischief.”
That same month, a coronavirus patient was chased down and arrested in Nashville after being placed under quarantine by public health officials.
In Hawaii last month, 21 travelers were arrested for breaking the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Veliz said the Florida couple was arrested Wednesday after police received a complaint and a video showing a possible violation of a quarantine order imposed by state public health officials against the couple.
In Florida, a national hot spot for the outbreak, public health officials have urged people to wear masks and keep their distance. But they also have the authority to order those who are infected to self-quarantine.
State officials said Freire Interian and his wife, Yohana Gonzalez, learned they were infected with the virus on July 15, after being tested five days earlier.
They were advised to wear face masks at home, a three bedroom house the couple shares with at least three other tenants. And they were required to self-isolate for at least 14 days.
But the Florida Department of Health determined them to “present an immediate danger of harm to others” when it was notified that the couple had gone to the grocery store on July 20 while possibly still infected. A day later, the agency issued a mandatory quarantine order against the couple.
Police said they received video footage Wednesday showing a possible violation of that order and asked a judge to issue arrest warrants.
Freire Interian and Gonzalez, who were released Thursday after posting bail, expressed disbelief over the misdemeanor charges.