Inpatient psychiatric units are often unique because many typical items are banned to keep patients in crisis safe. Things like shoelaces or shaving razors may come to mind, but in Allen’s psych safe unit, prohibited items include soap dispensers. Allen said they have bottles of baby shampoo in the bathroom and newly added hand sanitizer at the nurse’s station. Hospitals are trying to follow the CDC’s guidance to maximize resources. But it’s not enough.

“it is impossible to maintain a six feet distance from others, nor have they been provided masks or other protective equipment.”

“Also, no one wore masks — in fact, they took the mask I was wearing upon entry and put it into storage until I checked out, apparently because it had strings, which are prohibited in a psych ward,” Romain adds.

Patton State Psychiatric Hospital in San Bernardino County has...471 patients testing positive for the virus...Eleven patients are currently hospitalized with the virus and 14 others have died.

In August, a legal aid group, Disability Rights California, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Patton patients...In an interview after the hearing, [Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Lisa Tillman] recounted patients’ descriptions of cramped sleeping quarters, overcrowded bathrooms and poorly ventilated, shared eating areas.

Infections among the more than 2,300 people who work at Patton have surpassed 500, the lawsuit claims. Forty-three patients have been moved from Patton to an emergency facility the state opened in Norwalk, according to court records.

“Every day that these patients remain in congregate settings at Patton, without adequate social distancing … puts them at enormous risk of contracting COVID-19, with severe and potentially fatal consequences.”