This letter was written by a person incarcerated at CMC (California Men’s Colony).
Shortly thereafter, COVID-19 started picking up at this prison, even here at CMC-East single-man cells. It was at this time prison officials started letting some people out of prison from here early to reducing chances of them contracting COVID-19.
One day while outside on the recreation yard, I heard my name being paged to report to the program office. Upon reporting there with my prison ID, I was met by both a CDCR correctional sergeant and a medical nurse. The nurse then administered a COVID-19 test and told me that I was being released early, that I would be released with seven days of the test coming back negative.
Next approximately two months later once began another COVID-19 test was taken and I was informed I would be released with seven days of the test coming back negative.
It was a few weeks later, I had contacted multiple prison officials as to why I had never released early. To this today, no one has an answer as to why I was never released. I currently have a prison grievance pending with CDCR California Health Care Officials pending in Elk Grove, California. Due response on February 2021.
Next, approximately six months ago, a very good friend of mine that was a life inmate in here named [redacted], who had cancer like me and went to the same outside cancer doctor as myself, contracted COVID-19 in here and died.
It really had an impact on me. Because I had to really ask myself, am I next? Man that could have been me. My older sister who lives in Irvine, California, is always getting on me about being careful. She is really worried about me catching it in here and not making it out of here alive. Every time I call her, she lets me have it on the phone.
Next, on December, 2020, I tested positive for COVID-19 along with other inmates. There was a major outbreak of COVID-19, over 900 active cases after 31 CDCR correctional officers tested positive. A CDCR officials waiting two weeks before doing anything about my whole life changed. I was so worried I was going to die in here locked in my cell, no movement.
CDCR prison officials stopped me from going to my outside cancer/chemo treatment. The next months, on January 2021, although I had never left my cell and I had been quarantined for 13 days, prison officials gave me a rapid COVID-19 test and 10 minutes later told me that I tested positive again for COVID-19. So my outside cancer/chemo appointment was once again canceled.