"So there's less than there normally are right now?" I ask.
"They're off for two weeks, they said. Told us that a couple days ago." Z says there's no doctor in Ventress.
"There's no nurses or doctors at Ventress prison for two weeks right now?" I ask.
"Well, ain't no doctor at the prison, period. But yeah, nurses are all off [work] for two weeks. Not only [medical staff]," Z continues, "but the counselor, the classification officer, all them are off [work]. And that's why I'm stuck because, the classification officer was supposed to've gotten me in a work-release around March 9th, and now it's the 24th. Now they talkin bout two weeks off, so it'll be a whole nother month. And now I'm stuck in here with Coronavirus goin' on, man. And I don't wanna get it, man, stuck around all that."
On April 7th, Z tells me that inmates don't have masks, gloves, or hand-sanitizer, "It's like we got nothin," he says.
On the 13th of March, a report out of Atmore, Alabama, where Holman prison is located, states that Wetumpka Casino is closing because they have reason to believe a patron had or was exposed to Coronavirus at the casino in "the third week of February," which is when I first received confidential reports from inside of Holman about a wave of sickness sweeping the prison.
On March 19th, it is announced that an ADOC employee has tested positive for Coronavirus.
In addition to claiming that no inmates have Coronavirus long before sharing whether or not inmates had been tested (it has still not been made clear when inmates in Alabama prisons started being tested), what follows are some important announcements to consider made by ADOC regarding prisons in late-March. The announcements by ADOC and ADHP are just a few important statements to compare to those of the on-the-ground experience and testimony of inmates in this story, upcoming stories, and stories in other news outlets:
"Â · Suspending all visitation, inmate passes, tours, and volunteer entry for 30 days
 · Providing inmate inmates with one free call per week (up to 15 minutes) and extended hours of availability
 · Suspending all inmate co-pays (including for medical services not directly related to COVID-19) for 60 days
 · Suspending inmate transfers between facilities unless for security of health care reasons
 · Suspending non-emergency or chemotherapy related outside health care visits
 · Suspending legal visits from attorneys. 'Requests by counsel for an in person meeting due to urgent matters will be considered on a case-by case basis. Attorney visits also will be accommodated by confidential phone calls.'
 · Sanitizing facilities on an 'increased schedule'
 · Checking all employee temperature before they enter the facility. Anyone with a temperature higher than 100.4 will not be allowed into the prison. Temperature checks will also be implemented at the beginning of each shift statewide All employees will have temperature screening at the beginning of each shift statewide."
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