Half of inmates at Manchester’s Valley Street Jail test positive
The state s largest county jail, in Manchester, has a little over 200 inmates. Less than 15 have been tested for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Published: 1/12/2021 6:54:41 PM
Rey DeJesus has been at Valley Street Jail since February, awaiting a trial for felony charges. He and his wife, Krystal DeJesus, talk on the phone every day, and a few weeks ago, he called to say people in the jail were getting sick.
Krystal DeJesus, a nursing assistant, gave her husband some advice:
“I said, ‘You know, the COVID is bad; it’s airborne,’ ” she recalled. ” ‘We’re wearing masks out here. You guys have no masks?’ He said, ‘No, they haven’t provided us with no masks at all.’”
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DeJesus said her husband finally got a mask in late December, nine months into the pandemic. It was also around the same time that he and most inmates in his unit tested positive for COVID-19.
Now, they’re all quarantined in their cells, with one to two hours a day out to call lawyers or family. DeJesus says her husband is sick, and that despite having asthma, he hasn’t been given his inhaler. DeJesus says it got so bad, he ended up in the hospital a few days ago.
“Every day I’m wondering if he’s going to call me and it’s going to be worse,” she said. “I’m worried I’m going to bury my husband due to something that could have been prevented.”