Date: 04/03/2020 03:51 PM CDT
Subject: Lockdown Covid 19

Don't know how other prisons are doing...

Here at Kewanee Re-Entry we went on a full lockdown three days ago after the first staff member tested positive for CV19.

How, we only see the shift officers, and nurses checking temperatures and passing out meds once a day. The staff here are very professional and respectful. Their jobs have become much busier as they need to distribute meals through the chuck holes. I have seen the officers cleaning, mopping and bleaching all the doors twice a day. All the dirty jobs the inmates would normally be doing.

I can say that here, we are treated with respect as human beings. The staff are taking extra precautions in an attempt to maintain everyone's health. Their own included...

We are in this together.

Within the cell, we play Monopoly, do homework, Bible studies, and write letters. Generally not try to bug up in our new situation. Back to washing up daily in the sink with a washcloth. Hang a sheet up as a privacy curtain between my cellie and me, so I can scrub my balls without the embarrassment of bathing three feet away from a total stranger.

Now we wait to see if anyone gets sick over the next week. Hopefully, there wasn't too much contact between people here. We will see...

The most difficult thing is trying to get enough exercise to remain healthy. You really cannot get too sweaty and grungy as that just complicates the sanitation situation of two men living in a bathroom. It's bad enough we cannot do laundry, so you hand wash your drawers and socks in your plastic letterbox each night. That keeps the odors down.

This is just beginning, but we're all doing our part. My heart goes out to the guys in other prisons. I know they're miserable and the spring/summer heat will only make it worse. The staff on full lockdown in other prisons can be cold and cruel, as I remember from past years. So, I consider myself fortunate to be in a re-entry center going through this.

God's small mercies.