This story was told by a person incarcerated at John Latorraca Correctional Center.
UCI: And what has the COVID situation been like at your facility?
Caller: Well, recently, they came out with all the different vaccines. So, over the last couple months, they’ve just been administering those to the inmates that consent to have it done. They’ve also, when you first get arrested, they put you – it’s like anywhere from like a seven-day to two-week quarantine.
And then, in order to get out of that holding cell, you have to have test two negative tests. Now, if you’re positive, they’ll eventually house you in a dorm. And then you’ve got to get two – I’m sorry – have two negative tests again in order to get out of that and get into the general population.
So, I mean, a lot of people are getting the vaccine. They’re safe now.
Some people that are having it, they’re pretty much quarantining them and containing it so they don’t spread it to the rest of the population. It’s a pretty good system. It’s pretty neat to kind of watch it unfold.
It’s, I mean, like, so much chaos, though. I mean, some people have already had it, the shot. Some people just caught it. So, you can’t really see it all.
But my personal experience, I already caught it and I got two shots. I caught it when I was outside, but then I got two shots while I was in jail. So, I’m thankful that the jail was kind enough to let us get the shot so we’re protected.
UCI: That’s good to know. Has your facility provided you with masks or gloves or sanitizers for protection?
Caller: Not gloves, but when we go to court, we get masks. So I guess, I mean, you can wear them inside the jail, but inside the jail, no one really wears a mask. Unless you’re that person who does, but pretty much no one wears a mask in here.
The guards, now, the guards wear masks because they go home. And then, they’re – they’re likely to come across it and they could spread it to us. So, they pretty much always wear masks, which is good.
