This letter was written by a person incarcerated in Salinas Valley.
Dear PrisonPandemic,
I thank you for your time and concern, 2020 has been a crazy year for everyone. I can only imagine the pain felt outside of these walls, but we are feeling pain in here as well. During this pandemic, many of us have experienced loss outside of prison, so we are more concerned about our loved ones rather than ourselves.
But it has been out of control inside as well from COVID spreading quickly, to inmates passing away, correctional officers working multiple shifts due to many being out due to COVID. It is appreciated, but this experience has taught us that CDCR does not care about human life.
Here at this prison, whether due to negligence or incompetence, I have seen staff deliberately allow COVID to spread amongst inmates and not provide proper medical care. Staff have no training for crises such as this pandemic, so things become worse before getting better.
I do my best to maintain my distance from everyone and wash my hands thoroughly. Some of the inmates have been vaccinated, but after an older gentleman died while getting his breakfast tray most of us are still unsure.
They bought visits back about two weeks ago. They have one hour visits, and everyone is that happy that visits are back. This past year has been very stressful. Thank you for the work you are doing.
