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COVID in prison

 I have been a bit MIA because I broke my ankle on Thanksgiving (hiked back out two miles on a broken ankle!) and had surgery. So I forgot to worry that I hadn't heard from Jorge, my former student and co-author in prison, in a while. Turns out that I was right to worry, as he contracted COVID although seems to have made a full recovery.

I got a letter from him today that he said I could share parts of. I'd like to highlight the very last paragraph. This young man was suffering from COVID, totally cut off from all his loved ones, scared and in prison, and he remembered to ask after my family and worry if we are feeling lonely. He is a remarkable person.


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Sorry for the late reply, there's been so much that's been going on since I got to this prison....

As you know, before quarantining when I got to this place for two weeks, I did it at SATF for two weeks also. So in total I quarantined for a month and my tests came back negative. After the two weeks here I got sent to the yard [general population] and wasn't even there a full week when they came by testing the building I was in. Somebody in my pod ended up testing positive so due to me being exposed I got moved to the quarantine building back on A-yard.

So they said, well, the nurses said that you're supposed to get tested three times when you are there and that didn't happen. I only got tested once and that was on the 13th day I was there. So guess what, they waited until the 16th day to come and move me to B4 which is a COVID building. I came here because I tested positive!

I've been quarantined since the 12th of November and because they want to do all these moves, moving people that have COVID with people that don't have it, I ended up catching it. The first week I was over there on quarantine, I was ikay but then I started feeling really sick like if I had a bad cold with no energy. Then I lost my taste and smell for more than a week. 

I've been over here in the COVID building since Saturday which was the 28th and the day I got tested was on the 24th so on the 8th of December I should be getting sent back to the yard again. I'm not sick no more or anything though. I feel good but all this has had me really stressed out and feeling lost because aprt from all this, they don't let you use the phone or nothing so I haven't talked ot my fiancee or my grandma since early last month. It's messed up, you know. I know my grandma has been worried about me because she hasn't heard from me.

Then apart from testing positive, they put 8 people in the pod. How are we supposed to social distance, makes no sense!

This has all been really hard for me. I just want it to be over because we have a lockdown over something we have no control over so why not at least let us call our families and let them know what's going on because they can't even do that. I just want to get to the yard so I can call home.

Anyway, I hope you and your family have been good and styaing safe from everything that's going on with this COVID thing. I know it can be so easy to feel lonely with this pandemic.


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