We hear that two more inmates from the COVID-19 exposed San Pedro unit were transferred to San Carlos A Bay yesterday. Both of those inmates indicated that they finished only 12 days of the 14-day quarantine before being moved into this vulnerable population. Many of the residents in San Carlos A Bay are older than 65 and have health conditions that leave them especially at risk for the infection. They are understandably upset. There are high levels of fear, angst, and worry. We’ve heard at least one inmate say that she fully expects to fall victim to the virus, and doesn’t expect to survive it.
And this – direct from one of those inmates:
“An elderly, nonsmoker’s shopping day at San Carlos –
Whew! Back from 4 hours inundated with 2nd hand smoke (IN the non-smoking section), and subjected to no social distancing, for the entire morning. My eyes sting, I’ve used my inhaler 8 times, and I got a work out dodging all the youngster’s coughing. I’m in my 70’s and I’ve got to lay down. My friend in the same Bay (age 73, wheelchair-bound), is having heart palpitations from HER shopping trip. San Carlos makes no allowances for the elderly, our most vulnerable in this crisis. The Keefe man now arbitrarily announces which part of the alphabet he is shopping. We used to know what letters they were shopping because the box outside the store said S–Z, or A–F. etc. Now, the Keefe man, on a whim, decides which letters to shop IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. That is why the elderly spend 4 hours up front in the heat and smoke. The D.O.C. knows our ages, why not have a designated shopping time for 65+. We could all be done in 60 minutes, no pain no strain. DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT US?”
Why is the Governer going to test people 65+ in nursing homes, but not people 65+ in AZ prisons? CH 12 just reported 77% of all COVID-19 deaths were in that age range.