Zah is in quarantine

Michael in October of 2018

“I have been pretty sore, particularly in my back and shoulders. And I have noticed that I am tired.

We are not specifically being told by health care staff why we are being quarantined. Anytime I have ask I am being told, “they do not know,” (we have a right to know why we are being quarantined) but, we were told that all of the people who were moved over here, starting, I think, on Wed., had tested positive for having the virus. We actually have been infected.

Since being over here in the quarantine building, it has not been unpleasant. Staff have been really decent. We have our vitals taken 2-3 times a day. We are not being told anything by the health care staff. I honestly do not ask any questions because it can become very frustrating being told, “I do not know,” by the people who are suppose to have some answers. Flu station has a way of turning into arguments.

At least two of the guys who were quarantined, have been quarantined twice in a month. One of the guys is the guy who was moved back in the bed over me. Social distancing is simply not possible in dorm settings. The beds are less than 3 ft. apart. And about 50 or more people in each section share everything from the showers, to the toilets, and day room area. It’s pretty difficult to try and stay out of the dayroom area, and instead stay in the area of your bed, because if you have someone sleeping on top of you, as I do, you are trying to find some kind of privacy. And it’s hard to have privacy in these settings.

There is now this added pressure because now you have been infected by the virus. Once you have had it, you know that you can get it. And you feel as though you are always in, potentially, harms ways, regardless of what you do to try and keep yourself safe.

Even when we try to protect ourselves by putting up a sheet or towel to be used as a divider between your bed and the bed next to you,we are told that it’s not allowed (we were actually suppose to be provided with divider that would be placed between each bed to create some distancing. We were told that the dividers would not be provided to us because of the cost. So the position that we find ourselves in is, they will not provide us with the things that could prevent the spread of the virus because of the cost. And, we are not allowed to use a sheet or towel between the beds as a preventive measure because it is a safety and security issue, (and this would not cost anything).

We are in the midst of a pandemic, people are dying, and in spite of this they just do not think it is necessary to make changes in the way that prisons are run. We are being put and kept in these extremely high risk situations. If many of us took the position that we no longer want to be housed in these high risk dorm settings, we would be placed in ad seg and given a disciplinary write-up.

There must be changes made immediately to what is being done. One change should be around the “NDPF,” (or 50/50, “Non-Designated Programming Facilities“) yards. The Office of Administrative Law has determined that the policies on this is an underground regulation. Fixing this problem and providing programming for regular lower level prisoners is now possible, and in non-dorm settings.”

Note: After this, Zah let us know: “I am in a cell by myself now. Everyone who is quarantined is put on single cell status. The dorm is where I was housed when this happened.”

Sent to a supporter via Jpay on 8/29/2020 2:03:19 PM