This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Valley State.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit our institution in early 2020, either during February or March, when we were given limited programming. School, vocation, religious services, self-help groups, and other programming here at the institution seized. Our recreational program was limited to two hours of yard, two hours of dayroom, and one 15-minute phone call per day.
And that aspect, I was satisfied with the institution’s response, because the inmate population was still given some programming, while still maintaining social distancing at its best. A situation where the population had to be on a 24-hour lock down throughout the pandemic would have been detrimental to me, and I’m sure many other’s mental health.
Every inmate was given a weekly COVID test. Limited programming continued for a couple of days while the test results came back. If an inmate was found to be positive for COVID-19, he and every other inmate in his cell, up to eight, were quarantined. Each person in the infected cell had to pack up his entire property and were forced to move to a different housing within the institution, one dedicated to the housing of those infected.
In my situation, I was tested for COVID-19 on Saturday, and continued programming until early Tuesday morning, around 2 a.m. I was awoken by myself by a correctional officer, who instructed me to pack my belongings and get ready to move. I frantically packed up all my property, and about an hour later was escorted to the gym, where 88 beds have been installed to house those infected. There was no social distancing in this place. Beds were much less than six feet apart from one another.
There were instances where inmates were sent to the gym because one of his cellmates tested positive for COVID-19, yet he himself had tested negative during the same period. If you did not have COVID-19 by the time he was escorting you to the gym, being housed in those conditions certainly would have infected him. After a 14-day quarantine, I was moved again. Rather than returning to my original cell, I was obligated to move to a completely different housing unit.
During the months leading up to my infection, which occurred in November, I was living in constant fear of being moved. I felt as if I was getting punished for getting COVID. A better alternative would have been for the institution to quarantine the infected cells and to bring the medical care to them, as opposed to moving the sick inmates to another housing. I’ve heard of instances where an inmate had to move as many as five times in a few months span.
Such protocols are very stressful, as it prevents him from having stability. It may try to stay on a constant alert as he’d have to pack everything up and move to a new environment at any given time. In addition, constant moving is not an effective way of preventing the spread of COVID. Keeping the sick quarantined in the original 14 days is a much better option. Which actually increases exposure of the sick with more inmates, officers, and staff.
Throughout the institution here there is dissatisfaction with the pandemic response. In my opinion, a lot of it seemed random and illogical though. I understand that the pandemic created a new set of problems across the globe, but some of the decisions and protocols by the institution regarding COVID-19 were inconvenient for inmates and did not serve to curb the spread of COVID-19.
I hope this is helpful and can contribute to positive prison reforms.
