This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Soledad.
January 1, 2021
Dear PrisonPandemic project,
I came down with a positive test for COVID-19. I was rehoused inside the gym, a makeshift COVID-19 quarantine dorm, for two weeks. Medical staff took my vitals twice per day (blood pressure, oxygen level, temperature). I wasn’t exhibiting any symptoms for COVID-19. Thus, it was concluded by a PCP that I either had a mild case of COVID-19 or a false positive.
After two weeks of quarantine, I was released and returned to my regular housing. Needless to say, being in quarantine with 28 other inmates, all in the same fate as I was, jeopardize my health and safety. Today, I turned 67 years old. I’m classified as a “high-risk medical,” due to age and pre-existing medical issues.
Such as high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, just to name two.
Yesterday, the prison medical staff passed out the enclosed notice about inmates receiving the vaccine for COVID-19. I thought you might like to see it for your UCI team collecting of stories about what is all happening on the front line of the prison COVID-19 pandemic.
Feel free to contact my attorney for additional information about my status.
