1/28/22
The last week has brought a collection of changes to how the quarantine is being managed.
We finally got to exchange our dirty sheets for clean ones, the phone and shower schedule has changed so that everyone will get three opportunities to use each per week, as opposed to one phone call and three showers per week that’s been happening. People who have had a positive covid test and recovered are now able to go back to work if they work in critical areas like the kitchen, receiving, or medical.
However, the biggest change is that admin is actually communicating with us lowly inmates. Both yesterday and today we received memo packets with information about the outbreak at WCCW, as well as the outbreaks in other facilities. It’s getting really bad in all the prisons.
One piece of good news is the DOC is making N-95 masks generally available to inmates. Up to this point, only staff and inmates janitors have had access to the N-95 masks, the rest of us have been given surgical masks. The wearing of surgical masks has been mandatory for a while now, upgrading to the N-95 mask is voluntary.
Omicron is so contagious that I have no idea how I haven’t had a positive test. Everyone I work with and hang out with (except one person) have all tested positive. Specifically, two out of the three people I’ve said “if you get it I’m OK with getting it” because there has to be some people I can relax around and occasionally get a hug from when I’m feeling shitty, have got it. These are the folx I didn’t bother wearing my mask around and they didn’t bother wearing their masks around me. So like I said, how I managed to not get covid is seriously just a matter of dumb luck at this point. I got my shots, wash my hands often, wore my mask properly around everyone else, and all that jazz. So who knows, maybe it’s a good thing I trust my immune system to do it’s job. Kinda annoying though because if I had caught covid then I’d be able to go to work now.
Today, we received our fifth covid test since quarantine began. I honestly can’t say which way I want it to go.
Amber Fayefox Kim 