Michael Balstad lived in a cramped dormitory with at least 150 other inmates when COVID-19 began to infect people incarcerated at the men’s prison in Chino in late March. Social distancing was largely impossible and masks were unavailable.
As the first deaths inside the California Institution for Men were reported in April, Balstad saw inmates carted away with a fever or other symptoms. He was afraid he would be next.
“I was all stressed out. I used to write my mom and dad every day that I’m nervous about catching this stupid thing,” said Balstad, 55.
In May, when infections exploded by the hundreds, Balstad, along with 70 other people inside his crowded dorm, tested positive for the disease.
Balstad survived the outbreak. While dozens were hospitalized and more than 20 inmates died after being diagnosed with COVID-19, all of those in his dorm were asymptomatic, he said.
Throughout the summer, conditions improved as prison officials continued to release inmates, reducing the number of people in his dorm from 150 to 60 by July, and make other changes. By August, Balstad said, only 40 people lived in his dorm, allowing inmates to maintain social distancing guidelines.
“It got better,” he said. “But before, it was terrible.”
Infections drop
The state had a prison population of 114,318 inmates on March 11. Now, after reduction efforts, it incarcerates 92,600 people, or about 23% fewer. The inmate population does not include county jails, which are operated by sheriff’s departments.
Data provided by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation show that the number of inmates infected by coronavirus has fallen considerably in the past month.
On Sept. 27, the CDCR reported 40% fewer cases than the previous week; on Oct. 4, 50% fewer cases than the week before; and on Oct. 11, 61% fewer cases than the week before that. By raw numbers, there were 2,205 inmates infected on Sept. 25; on Oct. 24, that number stood at 277.
A third statistic is less conclusive: the rate of infected inmates per 1,000 in the system. The current figure is 156 per 1,000 and continues to climb. But after increasing by 30 per 1,000 in August and 36 per 1,000 in September, the growth has so far slowed in October to 6 per 1,000.
The men’s prison in Chino has had 17 confirmed cases in the past 14 days after totaling 1,312 cases in the 228 days — an average of almost six per day — since the first case was reported in the statewide prison system on March 20. San Quentin has had no new cases in the past 14 days after a spike following the transfer of some Chino inmates, according to CDCR data.
Dana Simas, a CDCR spokeswoman, said the decreasing number of infections can’t be explained by the population reduction alone. For one thing, the plummet in the number of current cases to 277 began about two weeks after most of the releases had taken place, statistics she provided indicate.
“Having under 300 cases, it shows we have taken significant steps,” Simas said.
Simas pointed to mandatory bi-monthly testing of staff or weekly testing of staff where an outbreak is reported, providing face masks to staff and inmates and requiring they be worn, enforcing social distancing, providing more cells for quarantine and isolation at each prison and increasing the speed at which test results are received.
“We have not stopped taking proactive measures just because our numbers have gone down,” Simas said.
The improvement comes even as prison officials announced on Oct. 22 the 25th death, in September, of an inmate at the Chino prison that has been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The deaths of two additional people incarcerated at California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe were reported Friday.
One of the harshest critics of state officials, attorney Steve Fama, said he is pleased with the trend — but at the same time cautiously anticipates the impending, court-ordered transfer of more than 1,000 San Quentin inmates. Their destination has not been announced as the CDCR pushes back against the order.
More testing
The Prison Law Office, a nonprofit law firm, advocates for people incarcerated in prisons and jails through lobbying and litigation. The organization previously sued Riverside County to force improvements in health care for inmates there.
“There certainly has been an increase in measures that at least in theory would reduce the risk of infection in prisons, and that includes testing,” said Fama, a Prison Law staff attorney. “And I’m talking about the testing of inmates and testing of staff.”
Fama said testing is much improved, both in the number of tests available and the speed at which results are obtained. This week, he said, officials at the Chino prison began weekly testing of inmates and staff who have never tested positive “which to me is a key public health means to minimize the spread of infection. At San Quentin, they have been retesting the never-positives since July. We have been asking them to do that at CIM for months now. “
The next step, he said, is improved isolation of the infected and better quarantining of those who are not. Too many inmates, Fama said, are quarantined in cells with bars instead of solid doors, allowing for the airborne virus to enter and leave.
“In some cases, what you have is not quarantining, but an incubator,” he said.
He praised the receiver appointed by the courts to oversee the prison medical system for directing prisons to set aside a certain number of beds to be used for isolation and quarantine. All prisons have now complied, he said.
Transfer or release?
Those measures came into sharp focus after the disastrous transfer in May of hundreds of inmates from virus-laden Chino to San Quentin — which had been without infections — resulted in almost 3,000 virus cases and the deaths of 29 inmates and one corrections officer at San Quentin. The Chino inmates had been tested before the transfers, but in many cases two or three weeks earlier, rendering the tests out of date.
Since that time, CDCR medical director R. Steven Tharratt was replaced in July and CDCR Secretary Ralph Diaz retired in October.
Also, the Chino prison is no longer accepting new prisoners or transferring them out. Any transfers at other prisons are heavily restricted to only what is considered essential, such as for medical or safety reasons.
Then, in an Oct. 21 ruling blasting “deliberate indifference” at CDCR, an appeals court ordered San Quentin to reduce its population by roughly half, from about 3,547 in June to 1,775. Many of those inmates are expected to be transferred, but Fama said the Prison Law Office is hoping that many — especially those older than 60 — will be released.
Simas said the department disagrees with the court’s decision to mandate the transfers from San Quentin “and will take next steps.”
“CDCR has taken extensive actions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Simas said.
Fama said he is counting on the CDCR continuing to follow new safety practices for transfers. For instance, those entering San Quentin from other prisons must be quarantined 14 days before their arrival and 14 days after.
While advocates for those incarcerated in state prisons continue to push for the release of more inmates, many continued to welcome substantial population reductions, largely through the early release of people, bringing the overall state prison population to its lowest point in decades.
Nicholas Reiner, spokesman for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, said there is no guarantee other outbreaks will not happen inside prisons. But the population reduction, he said, has led to a favorable outcome for many families.
And for the families who still have loved ones incarcerated in state prisons, Reiner said, many have found reprieve in CDCR’s new plan to re-open facilities for visitations in early 2021. Many have not seen their incarcerated family members since March.
‘Made it out alive’
Balstad, who served nine years of a 12-year sentence, was released by the parole board on Oct. 15. He said he was told he was a good candidate for early release because of his age and since he did not have any disciplinary write-ups while incarcerated.
He had been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon after swinging a wine bottle at a security guard at a strip mall in Lancaster, near where he had been receiving treatment at a rehabilitation facility, in an incident he said he does not recall.
He previously served time for a theft and burglary charge. For years, he said, he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and was drunk or using meth during the theft, burglary and assault. He said he’s been sober since he was arrested for the assault in 2011.
Balstad was among those who had been largely shut off from communication with their families while at the Chino prison.
Recently diagnosed with lymphoma, Balstad said from his Buena Park home last week that he is glad to have his parents by his side during chemotherapy treatments.
“I’m just grateful I made it out alive,” he said.
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