SAN DIEGO – Five more inmates have died from COVID-19 at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility over the past week, pushing the total number of fatalities to 14 since the pandemic erupted and making Otay Mesa prison the fourth-deadliest prison in the state.
Family members of people being held inside the prison describe horrific conditions that are propelling — rather than limiting — the spread of the disease. But California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials say they have implemented a series of policies and procedures aimed at containing the novel coronavirus.
"We take the COVID-19 pandemic very seriously and will continuously adjust our response as new information and situations arise," department spokeswoman Terri Hardy said in a statement. "The department is closely monitoring and tracking COVID-19 cases in the state's 35 prisons, and is responding to the recent increase with a series of actions."
According to wives and other relatives on Donovan inmates, the department's rules are regularly ignored. They said inmates who test positive for COVID-19 are being housed close together inside the prison gymnasium, where the virus is spreading faster than ever due to inadequate safety practices.
"The situation is so dire that the men are hungry," said Toni Nell, a management consultant from Sonoma County whose brother tested positive for COVID-19 in the prison on Christmas Eve. "They receive three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, aka box lunches, per day. I am told the cellophane wrappers are broken and opened, the food is nearly inedible."
Nell said precautions that prison officials put in place are not followed. Violators are not punished for failing to adhere to the safety rules, whether they are inmates or staff, he said.
"I am desperately trying to shine a light on the horrible circumstances these men and others are living with," she said. "We are charged with their care and have failed at protecting them from this deadly disease."
Donovan has recorded the fourth-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the state prison system, according to department data. San Quentin leads the state with 28 fatalities.
As of Friday, the Otay Mesa prison ranks 16th in the number of total coronavirus cases reported across the 35 facilities to date, with 1,000 confirmed infections. Earlier last week, it was the 10th-sickest prison in the system. It also recorded 91 active cases, and 61 new infections over the past 14 days.
Systemwide, just over 4,200 inmates were actively sick with COVID-19 on Friday, down from more than 5,300 earlier last week, the department reported.
All told, almost 45,000 inmates have been infected since the pandemic erupted in March, including over 3,600 new cases in the past two weeks. The total caseload amounts to almost have of the 95,000 inmates in state custody.
Hardy said the department is doing everything it can to protect inmates and employees, including staggering dining and recreation schedules, disinfecting common spaces between uses and only making essential transfers of inmates.
"All prisons are following a mandatory modified program — or limited movement — to mitigate potential spread of COVID-19," she said.
Isolation and quarantine protocols were adopted per state public-health guidelines, Hardy said. The department also stopped accepting inmates from county jails in November and does not currently permit in-person visits, she said.
Elizabeth Rodriguez said her son is a Donovan inmate who was infected with COVID-19 by his cellmate. She said inmates keep infecting one another because they are so close together, according to her son, whose name she did not want publicized because she is afraid of retaliation.
"He also said that there is no nurse monitoring them, nor are they giving medication to help with the headaches, chills, fever, and body aches," Rodriguez said. "He wants me to call Sacramento and file a complaint."
The novel coronavirus has spread mot quickly through congregate living facilities like prisons, jails and nursing homes.
The Associated Press reported last month that 1 in 5 state and federal prisoners across the nation have been infected and at least 1,700 had died from the virus.
On Friday, lawyers representing state prisoners urged Gov. Gavin Newsom and a federal judge to order inmates to the front of the line when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, the Associated Press also reported.
In San Diego County's jails, more than 1,500 inmates and staff have tested positive for COVID-19, including 182 active cases among staff and 112 active cases among inmates, according to the Sheriff's Department latest report.
One counselor at the Las Colinas women's jail in Santee died from the virus late last year, the department said.
