Editor’s note: This story is about the experience of the author’s 21-year-old grandson, Zachary Thomas, who has been detained since mid-March in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, now an epicenter of the spreading COVID-19 crisis.visionsvisions
On April 9, my grandson Zachary was tested and then transferred to an isolation division in the jail. He said the unit is not clean. He wanted us to tell everyone not to believe what Sheriff Dart says about the jail being safe and clean. “Sheriff Dart is lying,” he said. Zachary had tested positive. He was one of the 276 detainees who had tested positive for the virus on that day.
On April 9, ruling in the Mays v. Dart lawsuit, Federal District Judge Matthew Kennelly rejected the plaintiff’s request to immediately release all medically vulnerable Cook County Jail detainees to prevent COVID-19 casualties. However, the judge also rejected Dart’s assertion that he was providing for the detainees’ safety; Kennelly wrote: ” . . .the infection rate in Cook County was 1.56 per 1,000, whereas, in the Jail, it was 50 per 1,000 people. The disparity between these rates tends to support the contention that the conditions at the Jail facilitate the spread of coronavirus and exacerbate the risk of infection for the detainees.” The judge ordered the Sheriff to stop the policy of putting all new detainees into bullpens where the infection easily spreads.
In the isolation unit, Zachary’s shortness of breath increased. He was still having severe headaches and his temperature ranged from 99.8 to 100.4, but on the evening of April 13, Zachary’s blood pressure climbed to 141/93. He said his heart was beating very fast and he began to shake uncontrollably. The nurse who came to check on him called for another nurse to assist. A nearby detainee called to tell us what was happening. We immediately called the Medical CareLine, only able to leave a message. The next morning, a medical social worker called us back and we were able to give her some of Zachary’s medical history. Zachary called later and told us he had experienced a panic attack. The medical staff are paying more attention to him, he said.
As of April 16, a total of 600 detainees and staff have tested positive, and a third detainee has died. Each of those cases is a person, with a family. For us, as one of these families, this is deeply personal and we are terrified.
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