FISHKILL – The sister of a prisoner at Fishkill Correctional Facility said her brother told her that the inmates were just recently given some COVID-19 protection.
Judy Melendez of Florida told Mid-Hudson News that her brother, John Santiago, 55, told her by telephone that they recently received a handkerchief and two rubber bands and were told to use that as a face covering. He also told her they were recently given hand sanitizer, but they are required to eat meals in the mess hall without practicing social distancing.
Given that the virus has been known for months, Melendez said the prison is not practicing proper protocols.
“Six feet apart, given their masks and their gloves so that they don’t get each other sick and the worst part of this is they are not bringing that virus into the prison, it’s the employees,” she said.
Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to the governor, addressed the COVID situation in the prisons during the daily briefing last Thursday.
“We have actually not seen the kind of outbreaks that we feared that we would see. We’re monitoring it very closely,” she said. “We have done a number of things including stopping visitation and doing isolation above and beyond, but within humanity; making sure you are not putting people in solitary confinement.”
Melendez said her brother is suffering from a lung disorder and keeping him behind bars is “a death sentence.”
Santiago, who was committed in 2000, is eligible for parole in December 2022. He is serving a 25-year-to-life sentencing for armed robbery in New York City.
Two corrections officers told Mid-Hudson News that the only COVID protection they had was hand sanitizer as they entered the gate at the prison
Fishkill Correctional leads the state prison system in coronavirus cases. At least 46 inmates and 83 officers have contracted the virus.
