CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Inmates at St. Brides Correctional Center should be able to hear bells on Saturday.
It’s part of a broad-based effort known as the National Day of Freedom and Justice, and the local group, Inmate Support Virginia, is among a network of organizations fighting for prison reform.
Their bell-ringing event will start at 3 p.m. near the prison for a speakers’ program followed by the bell-ringing at 4 p.m. Eastern Time which is the same time bells will ring outside prisons across the country.
“We want to make sure that people on the outside don’t forget about people on the inside,” said event host Frances Ross.
“Every one of us are one step away from being inside. You can say I’m not a criminal, but all it takes is for you to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.
Inmates at St. Brides and their families continue to tell us about conditions there and how the prison is managing COVID-19 cases. The latest SBCC data reported to the Department of Corrections shows 48 inmates with active COVID-19 cases — slightly up from last week, but significantly down from 260 three weeks ago, and 302 a week after that.
A DOC spokesman told 10 On Your Side Wednesday afternoon that St. Brides has done no new widespread testing since July 17, and continues to follow CDC guidelines for correctional settings while working closely with the Virginia Department of Health.
Through voicemails and patched through zoom meetings, we’ve directly heard the voices of the inmates. They are fearing for their own health, and in some cases their lives, because of COVID-19.
“Yes they are prisoners, yes they are inmates, but they are humans too,” said an inmate’s mother. “I’m afraid he’s gonna catch the virus.”
She patched him through Wednesday morning during a Zoom meeting. He says he’s been tested only twice at the men’s medium-security lockup. After the first round came back with zero cases, he didn’t trust the results.
“Everything came back negative and then guys kept passing out, falling out and hitting their head, even I had a high sweat,” the inmate said.
He explained that healthy inmates have close contact with those who have symptoms. The prison recently reversed its placement of positive cases, moving them from the gym back into the dorms.
So the negative inmates are now in the gym, with beds “literally maybe a foot and a half apart” according to the inmate.
Another inmate worried for his safety left us a voicemail.
“The [positive] inmates that they have put back [in the dorms] are sweating and are really sick,” he said.
For more information on Saturday’s bell-ringing event, call or text 540-958-1847.
