This story was told by a person incarcerated at Merced County Jail.
UCI: And is there any way you’ve been coping with the crisis – like any activities or, you know, writing letters to loved ones?
Caller: I mean kind of like little word puzzles, here and there, work out, mainly – stuff like that. Other than that, other than that, it isn’t really much here to do like to cope with it. But it has been – it has been a hassle, though, since the COVID outbreak in here.
UCI: And –
Caller: Some individuals that have been here since like long periods of time, like from a year to six years, haven’t been able to seen their family. Because it’s been about two years since this facility has been exposed to COVID.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: So we haven’t been able to seen our families and stuff like that.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: And – yeah.
UCI: I’m so sorry to hear that.
Caller: Yeah. But, hopefully, I mean, this stuff clears up soon. And they’ve provided us with the COVID vaccinations and stuff like that.
UCI: So they’ve been – you guys have had access to the vaccinations?
Caller: Yeah. They provi- they came down the tier, right here, and asked us if we wanted vaccinations and stuff like that. Some of us said yes, some of us didn’t – said no.
But this is after the COVID outbreak right here. We were exposed to COVID.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Because someone – some of the, some of the canines in here don’t – what do you call it – utilize their proper – their proper gear, like not coming in here masked up. You know?
But – and some of them – like that’s pretty much how we caught it. We got exposed to it by them.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Because we arrive here, to this facility, we get quarantined. You know?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: We get cleared by medical. But we got exposed to it by the canines. Nothing was done.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: And then, that led to us not going to court and stuff like that. You know?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: We had to quarantine right here, in our cells, for about – I want to say for like about a week – two weeks.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: It was about 15 days. We were quarantined in our cells. After those days, they came and offered us the vaccination and stuff like that. So, you know, it’s just been real hard right here-
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Difficult. And – yeah.
UCI: And what do you think could have made the situation at your facility better?
Caller: Well, honestly, just like some – bring the visits back.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Stuff like that. You know? ‘Cause everybody wants to see their family.
It’s been a long time for some individuals. I’ve only been here about nine months. But some individuals have been here for about like – for years.
And, since the COVID outbreak, they stopped visits for two years. You know?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: That kind of made time more – more bearable, I guess.
