This story was told by a person incarcerated at Solano.
UCI: How have you been, how have you or your family members been coping with the crisis? So, for example, how have you been coping being inside?
Caller: I haven’t been. I’m from down south. And I haven’t seen my parents. They are under a medical care, and they talk about phase one. You can get one visit for an hour, but one person. How’s that gonna happen? I’m in a hardship situation.
My elderly parents can’t come up here one at a time an hour. They’re not gonna stay outside for 30 minutes, and then six feet away. It’s not going to happen. I need to be closest to my family or I need to be released, you know.
So, they’re not gonna take care of me and just open up the door or something so I can take care of myself, so I can get what I need. If I need some help. They’re not giving me any documentation about how I can cope with my situation.
“Well, you’re positive, here’s your receipt, and you need to change your diet, you need to do this, you need to do this, this is how we determined that you were positive because of such and such and such.” But they’re not giving me anything. All my papers are saying negative. Zero percent.
Negative, negative, negative, negative. And then they come off and tell me I’m positive and put me up here with people that probably are positive. I mean, that’s right there way it’s the symptoms that I haven’t had. I have come up with some COVID feels.
So, I won’t get an attitude, so I won’t develop any other symptoms you know from this because my body and my emotions can’t just adjust that quick to all of these quick changes, three different times from the forefront this month into filthy places.
UCI: How has it been to try and cope without visitation or having any type of programming available?
Caller: It’s hard because my parents ask questions. Other family members ask questions and then to tell them that they say I’m positive. My mom is, “What do you mean baby? All your slips are saying negative. Why would they say that you’re positive and put you over here with these people?”
I have my hands in the air. I don’t know. I’m trying to find out what’s going on, what’s happening. So, now my family is worried. They’re going through it.
I’m already worried about my elderly parents because my nieces and nephews are running in and out the house not wearing proper PPE or anything like that. They might bring this stuff in from the streets from this or that and the other. So, there’s a lot going on with the stress and the worry.
