Inmates at Santa Clara County’s Main Prison began a hunger strike this week to protest the biggest COVID-19 outbreak since the start of the March pandemic against the jail.
On Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff reported 109 new COVID-19 cases. That same night, the hunger strike in the 7B wing of the main prison began to protest against unhygienic living conditions and the lack of policies that, according to inmates, led to the outbreaks.
One of the 40 plus prisoners who participated in the hunger strike in 7B, Ceaser Torres, said the hunger strike is the only way to get the change that prisoners so urgently need.
“It seems like the prison and the facility on the sheriff’s side are not really taking us seriously unless we do something extreme,” Torres said.
The 7B unit was the start of a COVID-19 outbreak in December, which coincided with an indoor private party of several unmasked correctional deputies and supervisors who appeared on Facebook.
“I think the outbreak is the result of utter negligence on the part of prison administration and staff – or just institutional incompetence in fulfilling the basic responsibilities,” said Raj Jayadev, co-founder of community organization Silicon Valley De-Bug. “And the thing I’ll point out is these photos of correctional officers having a party.”
Jayadev said all outbursts in the jail are likely to be with staff as they are the only ones leaving the prisons and entering.
Another De-Bug organizer, Jose Valle, who works closely with the inmate, said everyone in 7B had experienced COVID-19 symptoms. If they did not test positive, it is because they refused the test, so they do not have to move to another, probably dirtier cell, Valle said.
Valle said the latest outbreak in December in 7B was the second outbreak in the housing unit since March.
The new report 109 active positive cases of Wednesday consist of all the prisons of the country.
By Friday, the number of active cases had jumped to 127 new cases in the country since Jan. 5. This is a quarter of the 501 cumulative prison infections since March.
January was also the top three highest infections in a single day in the country’s captive population, with 38 on Friday, 35 on 2 and 36 on January 4. And on Tuesday, a day before the hunger strike, the country had the fifth reported the highest one-day infections with 22 cases.
In response to the significant outbreaks, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is working with public defenders to facilitate additional releases that could begin as early as next week.
“When COVID first took place in March, we put together a team that really quickly had a reduction in the prison population,” said David Angel, assistant attorney. “We’d pulled the same kind of thing together again now.”
Angel said the release was a success because they were able to significantly reduce the prison sentence without seeing an increase in recidivism rates or an increase in crime.
He also said it is unclear how many prisoners will be released and will have a better idea next week, but it is unlikely that another 1,000 will be released like the first round.
“We are looking for people at the end of their sentence,” Angel said.
The DA’s office is also looking for solutions to show those released in housing, treatment and supervision, and perhaps electronic monitoring, Angel said.
But for inmates and lawyers, additional release is only one of six demands to end the hunger strike.
Prisoners also demand that visitation rights not be suspended, and that the Department of Public Health and Correctional Health draw up a plan to be shared with prisoners to ensure that living conditions in the prison meet health and medical treatment standards. .
“The cells there are just unhygienic, it’s just awful,” said Anastacia Bravo, Torres’ wife. “I’m surprised no one is dead yet.”
Torres was locked up in the province for eight years and was one of the prisoners who tested positive in the latest COVID-19 outbreak in 7B.
He said he has been participating in an annual hunger strike since 2016. The demands differ, but relate to the living conditions in the prison, he said.
His longest strike was his first year, where he did not eat for 12 days and lost 17 pounds.
This latest hunger strike is his fifth and is perhaps the most personal to him.
“You really start to feel it on the third or fourth day,” Torres said. “But I know how much my body can take. I can go 12, 13, 14 days and am willing to wait.”
After being tested positive, Torres was moved to the infirmary of the jail to quarantine with other COVID-19 positive people. After five days, he was moved to floor 6A, which is known to house those suffering from mental health conditions.
“The one I had to go into had feces on the wall and I had to clean it. There was dirt, like moldy food on the floor. Lots of writing on the wall and I don’t want to discuss anything other than one. Some of the cells also had had seeds on the desk, “Torres said.” It just made us sicker. “
He said when nurses came in to take their vital signs, fever was higher and blood pressure lower.
“The next day I had a terrible cough and headache. The body aches were bad,” Torres said. “It was hard to have COVID, especially to clean everything up if you could barely breathe. I still haven’t regained my sense of smell.”
According to a survey among 30 inmates conducted by Silicon Valley De-Bug, all said they did not have enough detergents to keep themselves and their cells clean.
In the same survey, it was found that 85 percent of the inmates are in dormitories in dormitories that are less than six feet apart. 100 percent said they were forced to share bathrooms without using sanitation between uses, and 95 percent said phones were not disinfected between uses.
In an email, the sheriff said they were aware of the hunger strike and that they were working on solutions.
“We take the health and well-being of those in our care seriously and we will work closely with Custody Health Services regarding those who choose to participate,” the email reads. “Our office will continue to work to address and resolve issues related to jail operations.”
Jayadev said prisoners, family members and lawyers have been working for months in an effort to change the living conditions of prisoners.
“That’s why we reached this hunger strike,” Jayadev said. ‘They have [inmates] exhausted every option and did everything they possibly could. ‘
He said they had gone through the conventional routes they offered: filing grievances, filing grievances, trying to go through the court system and pleading with family and friends on their behalf.
Torres said he filed two grievances in January, but he does not expect much to change. In his experience, the hunger strikes are the only thing that encourages the sheriff’s office to make significant changes.
“I’ve been here so many years and have seen the changes they can make. And I know that the sheriff’s captain has the authority to give us what we ask for, which are really simple things,” Torres said.
At the end of December, Torres tested negative for COVID-19, but still had some symptoms. His wife is worried that the hunger strike will lead to more health complications.
“For my husband to starve just to get basic rights for himself, I do not think fair,” Bravo said. ‘I do not want him to do that, especially since he’s still recovering from COVID. But this is his fifth hunger strike and he is determined to make a change. ‘
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