This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Soledad.
January 12, 2021
UCI,
It’s nice to know there is some people outside these walls and fences showing concern. Since this whole COVID-19 started, it has been uncertainty, stress, and a level of anxiety at its highest peaks. These last few months has been the worse. November started good, we had zero case on the yard.
I’m on at CTF North. Then all at once it changed. 70 people in the building I’m in, in one week. Then the next over 70, and each week up to now, double digit numbers. That lead to a outbreak.
If it wasn’t already chaos, the prison start moving inmates within and outside the building. And began moving dozens of inmates between yards and forced inmates to live with people they don’t know. We had to live with that uncertainty, not knowing what they would do next. For us prisoners that is a very unhealthy way to live!
They (CTF) were also moving COVID positive inmates in the cell with non-positive inmates. I am one of them. My cellmate for two and half years tested positive, I have not. They left my cellmate in the cell with me for two days before the moved him.
Then the next day they moved another inmate in with me who was also positive. That person stay with for five days before he was moved. I’ve tested nine times and have been negative.
As of now, the yard is beginning to feel that these positive test are false. And the prison is not and have not taken the right precautions to prevent this outbreak, if in fact the positive cases were real. They are not retesting inmates who are positive, to assure they are not false positive! So, I feel unsafe, and do not trust the administration nor medical when it comes to them and their COVID-19 measures and protocol.
We are not able to talk to our family, nor canteen or package, and not even able to shower. We were and are being treated like we are the virus and not human. We are not the ones who transmitted the virus into the prison. The correction officer were put at risk as well, but they also have been taken their on issue out on us.
Well, it was good to let it be know how me and my community are surviving this. Thank you for your concern.
With respect.
