This story was told by a person incarcerated at Fresno County Jail.
UCI: And so what has the COVID situation been like at your facility?
Caller: Well, I was, my booking date when I was first arrested was March of 2021. And when I was first booked in, you know, we were told to wait outside. We sat in a chair, we watched each individual, and we got a 15-minute quick test right then and there.
I came out negative. I wasn’t positive myself, and I wasn’t positive before. I never got it on the outside world.
But when I came in, I came into what they call a pod, an area of 50 to 60 people. But around two weeks later, they let people in. Outside they would test us, but when the people come in, we go to what they call a sick hall, and it’s basically like a small checkup.
So, when somebody comes back positive, a whole pod goes on quarantine. We’re not allowed to go to the gym. We’re not allowed to have visits. We’re not allowed to basically exit the pod for any reason whatsoever.
The correctional officers do a good job. They wear protective gear. They wear their masks. They wear gloves. They wear how a surgeon would prepare for surgery, you know, like a smock, you know, just to protect themselves, and they’d serve us our food and then leave.
But recently, our visits have been, were taken away in March. I don’t know how long they were taken away before that, but when we opened up visits, it was around the end of June, around June 26. We’re allowed to see our family. No one under the age of 18 is allowed, so it’s kind of sad.
Some people can’t see their children or what not, but it’s understandable. They don’t want to risk getting children sick.
