Amid this global pandemic, there have been no shortage of ostensibly strange decisions occurring on a daily basis, some of which have been brilliantly captured by amateur satirists on social media.
Most prevalent, of course, have been the memes that point out the absurdity of certain lockdown protocols, often accompanied by a photograph of a busy grocery or hardware store juxtaposed against a photo of a now-closed retail store or empty golf course. The insinuation is that one the crowded store is safe enough, while the golf course or clothing store is not.
Of course, there is much more to that discussion, but the sentiment remains that perhaps our authorities have made a few missteps along the way.
For many, the most absurd instance of virus panic has come from the corrections industry, where sick or non-violent prisoners are often allowed to leave jail in order to reduce the viral footprint.
This has backfired spectacularly in California.
Los Angeles County, California, inmates are deliberately infecting themselves with the Chinese coronavirus in the hope of being released from prison, surveillance footage released by Sheriff Alex Villanueva reveals.
During a press conference on Monday, Villanueva released surveillance footage from the Pitchess Detention Center showing inmates trying to contract the coronavirus crisis. Subsequently, more than 20 inmates seen in the footage tested positive for coronavirus.
“It’s deeply disturbing,” Villanueva said.
In one portion of the footage, an inmate can be seen getting hot water from a dispensary that is available to all inmates. Then, the inmate walks over to a group of fellow inmates where they pass the bottle around just before a nurse takes their temperature.
Villanueva said the inmates were not only drinking from the same bottle to try to get coronavirus, but they were drinking the hot water to falsely show high-temperature symptoms of it.
“Under normal circumstances, no one would be doing that anyway, particularly when everyone has the same access to the water. … No one shares this,” Villanueva said. “Now, they’re sharing the hot water and using the same bottle.”
It gets even worse…
Other footage shows inmates drinking from the same Styrofoam cup and sniffing from a mask in order to infect themselves with coronavirus.
The video has to be seen to be believed.
One has to wonder how many inmates will fall ill and possibly die on account of the decision to let these criminals go should they pose a viral threat?
