This story was told by a family member of someone incarcerated at Corcoran.
UCI: Okay and could you tell me about what the situation has been like there for your brother?
Caller: He’s, I mean, I’ve been in communication with him since he’s been there for a couple of years and it’s been extremely stressful the entire time. So, yeah, I mean it’s been stressful for both of us.
UCI: And you previously said that he contracted COVID, is that correct?
Caller: Yes.
UCI: Could you tell me a bit that experience from what you know?
Caller: Okay so, from what I understand is they were doing random tests I think once a week or every other week, and he had tested negative, but from what he’s telling me there’s a lot of situations to where if an officer sees somebody with symptoms or he believes somebody might have COVID, they’re automatically putting them in segregation away from population.
He also stated that they’re also doing it in a way to retaliate. So, even if somebody doesn’t have symptoms, they’re, you know, if they don’t want them in that facility, that yard, that building, they’re using that to get them rehoused at a different location in the prison.
And so that was his case, he’s been having situations with officers and they moved him to an area where they house inmates that have COVID. And he showed them, you know, medical documentation showing that he was negative, he refused, they still made it mandatory that he cell up with an inmate that had COVID. They were saying that they were told that he had it even after he, you know, showed them documents.
And so, he was forced into a cell with another inmate for about, I want to say, no longer than a week, and then they came and they rehoused him, told him they made a mistake, that he was negative and they retested him and then he showed up positive about a couple weeks later.
UCI: Mm-hmm, and how were his symptoms, were they bad?
Caller: Yeah, he still suffers from, I guess migraines, or something like that, he did lose a sense of taste for a while. He did recover that but he is still suffering from migraines that I believe he’s taking medication for.
UCI: I’m sorry to hear that.
Caller: Yeah.
UCI: And do you know what it was like for him once he tested positive, was it, what was the experience of being sick there, while being positive?
Caller: I mean he said, from what I understand, what he told me he was in segregation. He had nothing, they gave him nothing. He had no type of cleaning supplies, no disinfectants, anything like that to sanitize his cell. Even before going in that room with the inmate that already had it at the time. They wouldn’t give him any type of PPE.
Caller: So yeah, I mean, he got really sick, he had the chills, he had body aches, muscle pains, you know, he had diarrhea, he had these headaches, loss of taste. He couldn’t eat. So, I mean, he went, he went through a lot, from what I understand, he told me, “I haven’t got it yet, I’m thankful.” But he said that it was something that he had never experienced before, you know, he had the flu a number of times, other illnesses and nothing had compared to what it felt like when he contracted COVID.
UCI: That must’ve been very scary for him, I imagine.
Caller: Yeah, I mean, he thought that he was gonna die. He thought that, you know, the side effects, and the way he was feeling, I mean, he couldn’t breathe, he was having problems breathing so yeah.
UCI: And what was it like for you during this whole period?
Caller: Just trying to deal, you know, trying to contact the institution. I spoke with the doctor there, they confirmed the dates. He confirmed that the date that he was housed in a, you know, segregated area with COVID inmates, that he was negative and that he gave me the date that he showed up positive.
So, it was stressful for me just to try to reach out to that institution and speak with doctors or speak with staff there to find out his condition because I wasn’t getting anything but letters from the mail through him basically letting me know that he was all right, but this is, you know, weeks after the situation.
So, it was stressful on my part too, you know, and I’m still dealing with it now, I’m still trying to reach out to lawyers. I’m still trying to reach out to staff at that institution to find out why is he still in segregation right now. You know, and I’m reaching out to you guys to basically let you guys know what’s going on there.
And so it’s been stressful on me too, you know, I got a family out here, and we’re dealing with that too. We’re dealing with me getting back to work and, you know, us getting back to normal out here and then I gotta deal with his situation as well, so it’s been very stressful.
UCI: Yeah, I’m very sorry to hear that. Has it been hard, I imagine on other members of your family too, I’m sure it affects a lot of people.
Caller: Oh yeah, it affects everybody that’s around.
UCI: And how have you been coping with this, like, do you know how maybe you’ve been coping with it, how your brother’s been coping with it? How have you guys been pushing through?
Caller: I mean, we still haven’t been able to find anybody that’s willing to help us or to investigate what’s going on, to investigate the negligence that’s going on at the institution. We have contacted a number of lawyers, everybody seems to be overwhelmed with COVID cases, with inmates that are in the institution system that they’re just overwhelmed, nobody wants to pick up the case. We still can’t find any type of legal help, yeah, I mean, it’s hard, it’s stressful. He’s still going through a lot, like I said, he’s still in segregation now and this happened back in December.
Yeah, I mean it’s been stressful for me as well, like I said, I’m trying to cope with, you know, with my family and make sure that my family’s taken care of and I got to deal with his situation as well. And it seems like I can’t get any help, I can’t get any resources and I kind of feel like giving up in a way and just telling him to deal with it when he gets out but I don’t think that’s a reality. You know, it’s my family member and his health is at risk, and so I got to continue to help him as much as I can.
UCI: Yeah, do you have any idea if he has been offered the vaccine or will be offered the vaccine?
Caller: Yeah, what the doctor told me was that they have a list of inmates that are getting the vaccine. This was back in January, and that he would be the last on list to get it, just because he already contracted it.
UCI: Oh, that might have been hard to hear.
Caller: Yeah, I think it was but, I mean, I don’t think it’s as, you know, as much as bad news as it is finding out that he had it and how he got it.
UCI: Yeah, I mean this question, I mean, might be obvious but what do you think they could’ve done better like how could’ve this been managed better, in your opinion?
Caller: I think they shouldn’t leave it up to correctional officers to decide whether an inmate has symptoms or, you know, they should be isolated with inmates that do have it. I think that that’s something that should be in the hands of medical staff. Like, I don’t think officers should be, they’re not in the medical field, and so I don’t think they should be left with that type of authority where they can diagnose inmates and rehouse them and you know, determine whether they have COVID or not.
Caller: Because, like I said, from what I understand is that they’re abusing that authority that they’re given. If they have an issue with an inmate on the yard that’s giving them problems, you know, they’ll automatically remove them in that form, in that way, is by saying “Okay, this guy” you know, “We believe has COVID, has symptoms,” and they’ll move him out of the building, out of the yard, into segregation, just as a form of retaliation, as a form of discipline.
So yeah, I don’t think, I think they could’ve avoided it, just by leaving that decision up to medical staff only to diagnose an inmate that might have COVID.
UCI: Yeah, yeah that makes a lot of sense. I’m really kind of at the end of my questions for you. Just at this point is there anything else you’d like people to know about this experience, either your experience or your brother’s experience, anything you would want people to know.
Caller: I mean stay strong, stay positive and try to reach out. Don’t give up on trying to reach out to resources and stay in contact, stay in contact with loved ones because you don’t know, you know, you might not be fortunate so, yeah.
