This story was told by a person incarcerated at San Joaquin County Jail.
UCI: Okay. What facility are you currently housed at?
Caller: I am in San Joaquin County Jail.
UCI: Okay. And how’s the COVID situation been like at your facility?
Caller: Well, it’s pretty hectic right now, you know. There’s some of us that are on lockdown, you know, 24/7. You know, they’re doing, like, quarantine, some sections. Thankfully, my section is not on quarantine right now because, thankfully, nobody in my section has got sick. But it’s been pretty hectic, you know.
They stopped all visitations for everybody. You know, and it sucks big time because I’m used to seeing my family, getting my two visits a week every week and stuff like that. And it pretty sucks.
And then, they give laundry only, like, two days a week. So, that gets pretty hard as well, you know. You’ve got to wash your own clothes in your sink and stuff like that with soap and stuff like that. And, you know, there’s some people that are downstairs, you know.
They don’t get to go out, and they don’t get to talk to their families at all or use their phone. And right now I’m calling off the tablet, because I have a tablet and stuff like that. And the way I cope with COVID, I’m able to use the tablets, watch movies, listen to music, and you know, talk to my loved ones, thankfully.
And some people that just don’t have tablets, you know, they’re stuck in their cell. And, you know, they think all day – think about all the stuff that they may be going through. So, yeah, it gets pretty tough, you know. Some people, you know, just cope with it differently than others. But it sucks for me.
The most part that sucks is not being able to see my family and my loved ones. And vaccines. They’re not really giving vaccines that I’m aware of in this facility, that I’m aware of. I don’t think they’re giving out any vaccines or anything. So, that’s how it is so far.
UCI: Wow. And what has it been like for you with reduced visitation and programming?
Caller: Well, reduced visitation, it sucks because, like I said, I’m used to seeing my family two times a week whenever they were allowing visitations. And, you know, that’s kind of the way, you know, they motivated me to keep pushing and stuff like that. So, that’s pretty good. But now that they, you know, don’t do visitations at all for intake, it sucks big time.
And sometimes they don’t let us out just because, you know, somebody may be sick in the section below us. So, it gets pretty hard. And, you know, being stuck in a cell 24 hours, 24 hours a day ain’t no joke. So, it sucks.
UCI: Yeah. And is there anything else you want people to know about your experience?
Caller: No, nothing really. You guys are outside, you know. Just be good. And this jail’s no joke. No jail is fun.
It’s my first time being locked up, and it sucks big time, you know? I just keep praying, pray and thank the man up above for every day.
UCI: Mm-hmm. Thank you so much for sharing and for participating in PrisonPandemic. And please consider telling your friends about us and seeing if they would like to call in as well.
Caller: All right. Sounds good. Appreciate it, man. Have a good day.
UCI: You too. Take care.
Caller: Bye-bye.
UCI: Bye-bye.