My Prison Covid Diary

By Ryan M. Moser — FROM THE INSIDE

March 11, 2020 — This whole thing is crazy. The world news said there’s a new pandemic out there and the US might go on lockdown. Everyone on tv is starting to wear masks. A crisis is building outside of prison and I’m watching closely. We all are. We have families. Kids. Friends traveling abroad. This entire thing is surreal; I’m a voyeur onto an exterior situation which is beyond my control and frightening. Mom and Dad assure me that it’s a flu-bug that will pass.

March 20, 2020 — Visits are cancelled now and everyone’s bitching. We thought the only inconvenience to us would be wearing our new masks around the compound and a temporary suspension of big events-that’s quickly changing. Nearby Miami Beach closed to the public today. Everglades Correctional Institution is a ghost town. There’s no more open movement around the compound and the chapel is closed. The rec yard is off limits, and I can see this is going to be a problem for me. I’ll go fucking crazy stuck inside.

April 6, 2020 — Wheelchairs roll down the sidewalks, pushed by anxious orderlies dressed in full bio-hazard gear: gloves, smocks, plastic face shields, rubber boots. The entire facility is on full lockdown. We watch from the barred windows each day as guys we know are carted to medical for evaluation, some never return. A trip to the hospital and back…