This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Salinas Valley.
By November 2020, mind you, I haven’t got COVID yet. I’ve never done any prison terms prior to this. So I get to Wasco Reception Center and I get put into quarantine for two weeks and sometimes three or four weeks at a time. No programs or group phone calls. If we are lucky, once a week showers, maybe three times a week, sometimes twice.
By December 2020, I caught COVID-19 so I got tested. It came back positive so I’m trippin’, thoughts racing but only to find out I was asymptomatic. I had no symptoms or signs so far. I’ve seen three people die in front of me on outside my cell block door.
It’s been really hard for me in here because I have a mom, dad, brother, and sister out there. There are no visits but for me it’s not the same. When I got the virus I was told I wouldn’t have signs or symptoms. But I was contagious so all they did for me was check my vitals and signs, BP, oxygen, temp, etc. For two weeks some people was longer.
From November to February I was in reception then I was sent to Salinas Valley State Prison. My safety here compared to Wasco’s is I’m more high alert who’s where at. Wasco we were locked down more, here we come out interact with people. So it’s a respect one another kind of thing. The vaccinations are coming and I’ve seen people get them, my celly got his.
As far as me, I probably won’t till later ’cause I’ve had the virus and so far I’ve been negative. For me, coping with this stress is difficult, my family hardly writes. But we can barely talk on the phone. I’m single and this letter really got to me cuz I don’t have any other pen pal so it would be google to get to know you.
