This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Soledad.
Dear UCI student PrisonPandemic project,
To start with, in short my COVID-19 experience incarcerated has, and still to this day, is mentally dreadful. From being confined to a cell six by 12 feet (at most) with a celly. With no AC ventilation for a year now to being quarantined in the hole for lack of room. In my housing unit prior to quarantine, the ventilating system didn’t work, but just how it inner-connected each and every cell.
Left to right from first, second, and third tier — that’s how COVID spread to everyone.
Nobody felt safe as nurses came to test us and/or take our temperature and vitals without changing gloves after every use and disinfecting their equipment. The correctional officers showed no to very little concern over sanitation protocols. I worked as an inmate porter. Which meant I helped in janitorial tasks within my housing unit and that meant feeding as well.
We were given one pair of gloves to last for the day.
The whole unit would get a mask exchange once a week. That meant wearing the same one for a whole seven days. We were all even scared to shower due to no disinfecting in between uses. I know of many inmates to this very date who have not stepped out to shower due to that fear.
In addition, once we test positive we get moved to another block, chapel, gym, and now they have tents outside yards. We get thrown with another sick inmate celly. Every other day we have movement in and out, those 14 days quarantined coming back at random from other parts of the prison. We’ve had inmates quarantined for two to three times already, too.
Overall, and I know I speak for the rest of the inmate population, that safety here in CTF has not been present and regulated since before COVID. From running incrementals with opposing prison gangs population, to causing numerous riots and injuries to inmates from inmates. We’re all misinformed and left lockdown with no word for weeks at a time. Safety among this COVID is to refuse to come out and shower and skip meals in fear the trays are contaminated.
