This story was told by a person incarcerated at Avenal.
UCI: Has there been anything like an overpopulation issue at your prison?
Caller: Honestly, I’m not sure what the normal numbers are supposed to be for the prison, so I can’t give you a …
It seems like it though right now because our tables, they’re less than six foot across from the next, like from the little foursquare table. So, it says for the, the assistant warden, he put notices on all the tables saying four to a table, no visitors, which means no five people to a table, six people to a table. But it’s going to spread at a table that small. You know, there’s no – they’ve freed it up a little bit by emptying out the two racks in the dorms, like I told you before.
But even then, you’re still, you hop off a rack and you’re less than six foot away from somebody else.
UCI: Yeah. So, how many people live per rack?
Caller: How many people are where?
UCI: How many people live per rack?
Caller: Oh, live on the …? Okay, so there’s two per rack. So, it’s one bunk and there’s a lower rack and a top rack.
And they don’t, they’re not – me and my bunkee personally, we sleep opposite. So, his head would be where my feet are at and my head is where is feet are at because I’m on the top rack. But even then, you know, again if I hop off that rack for whatever reason, if he coughs or …
Caller: You know, if he coughs or sneezes, then, you know, it’s a wrap.
UCI: Yeah, that’s really close. So, when was the first round? Did you say it was a few months ago?
Caller: Yeah, the first time was about, I want to say four or five months ago.
UCI: Is the – do you know if it’s, how the situation is? Like is it a lot of people this round that have it?
Caller: Oh, yeah. Like there’s … About 90 percent of the people in my building have it still to this day. I mean like they tested positive. And there’s more rates going up now. But even the people that were never sick are now getting sick.
UCI: Yeah. Does not sound like a good situation.
Caller: No, it’s definitely not.
