Name: COVID-19 patient arrested after leaving fairgrounds quarantine, court records show
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COVID-19 patient arrested after leaving fairgrounds quarantine, court records show

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Get the newsShare This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThis appears to be the first case in Nashville of anyone being arrested on charges of violating coronavirus restrictions enacted by local authorities.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to register before adding a comment.Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.Please be polite.It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.If you see comments in violation of our , please report them.A coronavirus patient was arrested Thursday after prosecutors said he jumped a fence and fled the Nashville Fairgrounds, where health officials are using enforceable quarantines in an attempt to control an outbreak at an emergency homeless shelter.This appears to be the first case in Nashville of police making an arrest to enforce coronavirus restrictions enacted by the local government.The Tennessean is not naming the man&nbsp;to protect his privacy and&nbsp;because&nbsp;the charge is a misdemeanor.According to an arrest affidavit, a 39-year-old man was taken to the Nashville Fairgrounds on Monday and placed under quarantine by the Metro Nashville Public Health Department because he tested positive for the coronavirus.Health officials told the man he could not leave until he was cleared, but on Thursday he&nbsp;jumped a fence and headed north on Nolensville Road, the affidavit states.&nbsp; He was stopped and arrested by Metro Nashville Parks police by a city cemetery nearly two miles from where he had been quarantined.Metro Parks has charged the man with a single count of escape from a penal institution, a class A misdemeanor. The statute that defines this crime makes no mention of it being used to enforce quarantine orders. When asked about the legal authority to make this arrest, the Metro Health Department cited a different section of law that classifies violating quarantine as a class B misdemeanor, which is a less serious offense.Brian Todd, spokesman for the Metro Health Department, said that law empowers police to arrest anyone who violates an infectious disease quarantine. The laws are not specific to residents of homeless shelters and could also be used to arrest someone who violates a Metro Health order to remain in quarantine at their home or a hospital.The arrest highlights the difference between people merely advised to remain at home and those who are ordered into quarantine. Residents across Nashville have been instructed by the mayor to remain at home as much as possible, but those who venture outside don’t face arrest. However, residents who test positive for coronavirus can be ordered into quarantine, which police can enforce.Dr. Alex Jahangir, chairman of the city’s coronavirus task force, said the vast majority of people who tested positive in Nashville have cooperated with officials, so “formal quarantines” have been unnecessary.However, the city has the option of using a legally enforceable quarantine order whenever necessary, Jahangir said. At the fairgrounds, where the city is attempting to quash an outbreak among homeless residents, everyone who has tested positive is subject to a formal order, he said.“Everyone is entitled to come and go as they want, typically, but in the fairgrounds situation we wanted to make sure that people who are positive stayed in the ill parts of the shelter —&nbsp;period,” Jahangir said.Davidson County Sheriff's Office&nbsp;records show the fairgounds suspect&nbsp;was booked into the Metro jail at 5:17 p.m. on Thursday. As of Friday, he remained jailed in lieu of $5,000 bond."That individual, along with anyone else who has tested positive or symptomatic, is being held in medical isolation at the Downtown Detention Center," DCSO spokeswoman Karla West said Friday.Under medical isolation, West added, individual inmates are held in single cells.The coronavirus is a pandemic that continues to impact life in Tennessee in a variety of ways. The USA Today Network newsrooms in Tennessee are uniquely positioned to cover this crisis. We're providing this critical information for free. To support our mission, please . For more information on COVID-19, please visit .Metro Nashville police spokesman Kris Mumford said it appears the COVID-19 related arrest was the first of its kind in the city. Todd, the Metro Health spokesman, said he was also unaware of any other arrests for violating quarantine.Metro Parks declined to comment on the arrest and prosecution.Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2020/05/08/coronavirus-patient-arrested-after-leaving-nashville-quarantine/3098005001/to help improve our site experience!More Stories

Get the newsShare This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThis appears to be the first case in Nashville of anyone being arrested on charges of violating coronavirus restrictions enacted by local authorities.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to...

COVID-19 patient arrested after leaving fairgrounds quarantine, court records show

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