This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Susanville.
Hello friend. How’s life treating you? I receive your correspondence in the mail the other day and was delighted to hear the concern. Due to the uncertainty this world seem to be headed in, I pray that my letter find your establishment all under God’s gracious tender mercy and care.
While this last year has unfolded a weakness in our civilization as well as CDCR as a whole. COVID-19 took the whole world by surprise. My hat goes off to the families and everyone who lost their lives. Being that I am in prison when the pandemic first hit, all the prisoner thought we would have been a little safer from the world being secluded.
Far from the truth, at the prison I’m in we had no cases, when they brought in a bus from San Quentin cases started to pop up. The CDCR wasn’t supposed to be transferring any inmates at this time. Why that bus from San Quentin arrive? We have no clue, at this time. San Quentin was one of several prison with an abundant of COVID-19 cases.
Soon after that bus arrive everyone started getting sick, I was afraid for my life. The only think I knew about the virus was what the news advertise. (people dying). To make matter worse we were confined to our housing quarters which is very small in proximity. We were told to wear a mask and to social distance, how could we when we were confined to a very small dorm filled to maximum capacity.
The psychological damage is devastating, it almost feel as if you were sentence to death. We were only allowed yard once a week. The physical aspect of your life starts to deteriorate, along with the mental due to the high levels of stress. The truth of the matter is CDCR can never prepare for a virus of this magnitude.
After several months of taking as best of my knowledge precaution, I finally caught COVID-19. I was put in a isolation dorm which the nurse took my temp twice a day. It was a horrible experience. To this day I still feel the effects of the virus. I now had my second shot of the Moderna vaccine. Most inmates refuse, because they just don’t feel safe dealing with CDCR.
Hopefully we can be better prepared in the event there’s another catastrophic pandemic. Thanks for the concern.
