COVID-19 In a Federal Prison
If there was ever a time to want to be at a federal prison camp, it could be now. We seem to be fine so far, quarantined in our tiny bubble. Other than our visits being cancelled, and all volunteers being suspended for 30 days, we really don’t notice too much difference. Life as we know it just keeps on keeping on, it just seems like a normal day here, we don’t see the streets or the stores, so the corona scare doesn’t seem real to some of us. There are a lot of people that are terrified and panicking here, as there are out there. If we stay away from the television, and stay away from the inmate newscasters, we can’t be hijacked by the insanity. Here is an update about what is going on here as of Tuesday March 17, 2020.
As I write this blog a load of toilet paper has arrived and is being unloaded. To be completely honest, as we started to get low, and as the rest of the world just can’t seem to find any, I was becoming concerned about our toilet paper situation, but here it is. So far, we have what we need, and we are safe.
I am at a Federal prison satellite camp and we have limited contact with guards, so with the suspension of anyone from the outside world coming in, we are pretty much quarantined from the outside world. The men at the FCI next door, as well as anyone in a state or higher security facility, will most likely feel a much greater impact. The higher the security, the more staff are needed to operate. The BOP (Bureau of Prisons) is offering all staff members 14 days paid leave if they feel sick or if they have been exposed. This translates into the possibility of a lot of inmates being locked down due to a shortage of faculty, and I am sure there is a lot of concern.
For us, this is what is going on:
Friday March 13, 2020, they had a town hall meeting in the gym and encouraged to step up our hygiene practices and let medical know if we feel sick.
Then the following protective measures were posted:
SCREENING OF INMATES
-new arrivals will be screened for risk factors or symptoms
-asymptomatic inmates with exposure will be quarantined
-symptomatic inmates with exposure will be isolated and tested with local health authority
-no inmates sick yet
SOCIAL VISITS-
-suspended for 30 days, at that time reevaluated
-phone minutes increased from 300 a month to 500
INMATE MOVEMENT-
-movement between facilities suspended for 30 days, then reevaluated
-special cases have exceptions
-will continue to process new inmates and local med trips will continue
LEGAL VISITS-
-suspended with some exceptions
VOLUNTEER-
-Visits will be suspended for 30 days and then reevaluated
MODIFIED OPERATIONS
-For 30 days the facility will operate on a modified basis to limit inmate group contact as much as possible.
-reevaluate in 30 days
The gym is closed at the FCI
No food on the bar, everything served by line servers behind bar
3/17/2020 a quarantine area was created at the camp with 6 beds, just in case
