TagMedical Care

May 22, 2020

featured testimony: prisoner contracts COVID-19 and experiences isolation and medical neglect, explains how jail is using a “trick” of waiting 2 weeks to test and quarantine housing units to keep covid-19 number of cases low: “They treat you like you’re scum”

Formerly Incarcerated at SRJ
Angelo Valdez
22May

So Santa Rita could keep their numbers low, this is the trick they did. They knew I tested positive, so what they should have done right then and there is quarantine the whole section. But what they ended up doing was wait until I was done with my two week quarantine, then quarantined the pod and tested them after those two weeks. So by then, if you were sick, it was going to be out of your...

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May 7, 2020

former prisoner tests positive for covid-19 and suspects he contracted it from medical housing unit in jail; ACSO denies emergency housing after his release

Formerly Incarcerated at SRJ
Darryl Geyer
07May

I believe that I contracted COVID-19 while in the OPHU of Santa Rita Jail, as that is the only source where I had contact with individuals who had COVID-19, and that the sheriff failed to take the necessary steps to protect me from contracting COVID-19, failed to do the required testing, and failed to take action, well within the sheriff's power and control, to even refer me to emergency housing...

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May 6, 2020

after testing positive for covid-19, prisoner is put into solitary confinement in filthy cell with no medical care: “I thought i was going to die”

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Tyronne Alexander Jones (HU32)
06May

The next day, they gave me the COVID test, and on April 30, 2020, I tested positive. In solitary confinement, I got nothing. No cough drops, no extra blanket, no Tylenol, no hot drink, nothing. Just be in that room and suffer. Truly, I thought I was going to die.

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May 6, 2020

prisoner with asthma and other health issues denied regular access to inhaler, concerned that shared inhalers could transmit covid-19

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Marla Armstrong (HU24E)

If you have trouble breathing other times, there’s no sick call and there’s no inhaler, and you have to push the button. But the technician who answers the button talks to you in such a way, as to make you feel really bad, so these last few weeks, although I had chest pains, I didn’t push the button.

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May 1, 2020

prisoner denied shower, soap, clean clothes, medical treatment, or any information after testing positive for covid-19

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Saul Espinoza (HU6E —> HU8A —> HU8C)
01May

The jail didn’t tell me anything, but I knew that everyone in C had tested positive for the corona virus. I am essentially in solitary confinement, with nothing for comfort, and no medical treatment. I have had no shower. I have no soap. I have none of my property. I have not been given any clean clothes. I received nothing for my cough. I received nothing for my body pains.

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April 29, 2020

after jail re-integrates symptomatic inmates into housing unit, prisoner tests positive and experiences extreme medical neglect

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Ángelo Valdez (HU6 —> HU8)
29April

...I got Tylenol only twice. I was running a high fever, over 100 degrees and I had really bad headaches. I asked them for Tylenol and the nurse said to me, “The doctor said no Tylenol. We want your body to fight it off by itself.” And then the nurse closed the door slot and walked off. I never got any cough drops or anything for my cough. I asked for an extra blanket and the jail refused to give...

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April 29, 2020

after surviving filthy cell, medical neglect, and no shower for 2 weeks, jail punishes covid-19 positive prisoner with solitary confinement for questioning placement in a non-covid housing unit due to assault threats from other prisoners who fear getting virus

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Ocie Johnson (HU7 —> HU8 —> HU7)

On April 15, 2020, at 9:30am, the doctor came by to tell me that I would be finished quarantining that day. ...Around 11 a.m. or noon, staff let me out to shower, but the showers were still filthy — I considered them unusable. At this point, I had not showered since April 4, 2020. I also still had the same clothes and same underwear I had been wearing for over 10 days.

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April 21, 2020

prisoner is tested for covid-19 and moved into housing unit for positive prisoners, but not told the result of his test or given any other information

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Jose Alonzo Herrera (HU6 —> HU8A —> HU8C)
21April

...The jail moved me into Housing Unit 8C, which the other inmates tell me is for those inmates who have tested positive. The jail itself has told me nothing. No doctor, no nurse, no deputy has told me what is going on. No doctor, no nurse, no deputy has told me I have tested positive for the Coronavirus. No doctor, no nurse, no deputy has told me what will happen or how long I will stay here.

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April 18, 2020

prisoner describes the horrors of conditions and treatment after testing positive for covid-19

Formerly Incarcerated at SRJ
Leonard Wakefield (HU7E —> HU8C)
18April

He immediately slapped hand cuffs on me, and twisted my arm, and dragged me to Housing Unit 8C, even though I was feeling so poorly. When I arrived at Housing Unit 8C, the first cell they put me in was so filthy, with garbage and dirt all over the cell that I told them if they forced me to be in that cell, they would have to put me on suicide watch.

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April 18, 2020

featured testimony: covid-19 positive prisoner put into solitary as punishment for questioning being moved back into housing unit while still symptomatic, reports rampant medical neglect: “This is torture”

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Cedric Henry (HU7 —> 8A)

I had not seen medical people or received medical attention since being placed here. I was having a hard time breathing. I had bad diarrhea, I had a shooting headache. I still had a bad cough. I had shivers and chills. One night, I had such trouble breathing I had a panic attack. I’m breathing but it did not feel like air was going on. And I can’t submit a medical request slip, I have no way of...

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April 17, 2020

prisoner details a wide range of horrific conditions: lack of sanitation, medical neglect, misinformation put out by jail, exposing covid-19 positive prisoners to others, and more

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Eric Wayne (BAK513, HU6D)
17April

Inmates often use their own body soap to clean the cell due to insufficient cleaning supplies. On April 20, 2020, the only supplies we received were a broom without the handle (just the bristles part) and a toilet brush. When we asked Deputy Whitlock for better supplies and a proper broom, he responded that we could "sweep on our knees" and did not provide us with additional supplies.

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April 15, 2020

symptomatic prisoner exposed to several people who have tested positive is told he is negative and denied a second test

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Anonymous

He was starting to get a fever, chills, and body aches. He started losing his sense of smell and taste, which would continue for two weeks....He finally went to OPHU, where they put him in an isolation cell with a gurney set up on the floor. Peter was tested for COVID-19 on April 5 by taking a swab inside his nose, but the test came back negative. He was confused by this, as he had all the same...

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April 13, 2020

infirmary filthy with blood, mucus, and feces; infirmary phones broken resulting in complete isolation

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Anonymous
13April

This was Elena’s second total time in the infirmary since arriving at SRJ and she said this time, the conditions were the same as the first: blood on the mattress, mucus on the walls, filthy floor, feces stain on blanket, etc. When she requested a new blanket or mattress, she was denied. The infirmary seemed especially crowded – Elena and Michelle had to share a room in there as well. Elena tried...

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April 7, 2020

Prisoner with severe pre-existing lung condition denied testing and medical care: “It’s outrageous the way they’re treating us”

Currently Incarcerated at SRJ
Anonymous
07April

So it’s been a couple people, including myself in my pod, requesting to get tested and they just brush us off. They say oh we’re not testing everybody, you don’t show symptoms. Well I have a lung disease basically and I could die immediately maybe within a week or two of contracting Coronavirus. So if they want me to wait to show symptoms it’s gonna be too late.

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Learn how you can take action to demand more releases from Santa Rita to protect the health and safety of our community

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& Public Defender Alameda County Sheriff's Office Cleaning Supplies COVID-19 Testing Declaration from Lawsuit Deputies District Attorney Jail Giving Misinformation Kitchen and Quality of Food Lack of Social Distancing Legal Services Lockdowns Medical Care Medically At-Risk Prisoners Outpatient Housing Unit Personal Hygeine Personal Protective Equipment Programming and Pod Time Retaliation Use of Solitary Confinement