Terrell Leonard is being held in Allegheny County Prison for violation of parole.
In late January, he learned that one of the correctional officers working on his 2D pod tested positive for covid-19.
Shortly thereafter, he said in a court statement, pod workers and inmates in his pod also began to experience symptoms.
On February 1, Leonard, 28, who suffers from sleep apnea, septal deviation and allergies, said he developed a fever, sore throat and hot and cold sweats. In two days, he said he had lost his taste and smell, had body pain and difficulty breathing.
On February 7, he had tested positive for the virus and, along with several other inmates, was transferred to pod 7D, where they were being quarantined.
On Monday, 38 inmates were listed as positive for covid-19, while 15 team members were also positive.
The prison population on Monday was 1,623.
Director Orlando Harper did not say how many prisoners were quarantined or isolated. As of Tuesday, 10 capsules were in quarantine and three were isolated, according to a prison operations email obtained by the Tribune-Review.
Inmates in isolation, Harper said, are those who have longed for it. Quarantined are those people who have been exposed, or potentially exposed, to the virus, whose movement is restricted to see if they get sick, he said.
Jaclyn Kurin, a lawyer at the Abolitionist Law Center, said that one of the reasons the virus continues to spread in prison is inadequate testing.
In December, she said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidelines for correctional facilities, recommending mass testing to prevent asymptomatic spread when there are positive cases or a high rate of transmission.
Still, she continued, the prison is not following that direction.
“The outdated, symptom-based testing practice of ACJ is just measuring people’s temperature. It does nothing to detect asymptomatic employees and incarcerated individuals, ”said Kurin.
Harper disagreed.
“As it has always done, the facility is complying with the recommendations of the CDC (Pennsylvania Department of Health), (Pennsylvania Department of Corrections) and the Department of Health with respect to all of its policies and procedures relevant to greed, including testing, and do so under the direction of your medical provider, (Allegheny Health Network), ”Harper said in a written statement.
Kurin spoke to more than 30 people imprisoned in prison who had the virus.
“None of them were interviewed by the Allegheny County Health Department or by the prison about whom they were in contact with,” said Kurin. “There is no contact tracking.”
Most of them, she said, had the same experience as Leonard.
When he and the others in his cocoon were transferred, he said in his statement, they took their belongings, including blankets and mattresses, with them – and they were never disinfected.
Leonard, who has convictions for DUI, assault, gun and drug charges, said the quarantine pod had no hot water; that the people detained there did not change their clothes; and they didn’t have enough soap to wash.
Viveca Jones, Leonard’s mother, said her son is still sick, but has returned to his original cocoon – still in the same bed.
“They are still sick there,” she said. “He says his chest hurts when he lies down at night.
“He said it looks like he has ash in his lungs.”
Jones spoke to his son daily during the quarantine period, and he repeatedly told her how cold it was and that there was no hot water.
Harper said this was not true.
“With regard to 7D, we had no problems with hot water,” he said.
Carla Moser said her brother Mike Kiselka, who has neuropathy due to previous cancer treatment, said he felt so cold during quarantine in prison that he was unable to move his hands and feet.
“He was literally crying at the end of our conversation,” said his sister. “This is not typical of him.
“’He said,’ my whole body hurts, my lungs, my back. ‘”
She said Kiselka, who had been released in a recovery home but later returned to prison, has not been tested for greed, but is in quarantine.
He pleaded guilty to his third DUI last week and was sentenced to one to two years in prison. Moser said his brother wants to appeal the sentence, but would rather be sent to state prison than stay in prison.
Paula Reed Ward is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Paula at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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