29 countries stop sending post to NZ

Kiwis waiting on mail from overseas have no idea when it will arrive as the global postal system deals with the fallout of coronavirus.

About 29 countries have stopped sending post to New Zealand completely because they had no way of getting things here, a spokesperson for NZ Post said.

Some countries have resorted to sea freight, but that can take between 30 and 60 days, they said.

There has been a 95 per cent reduction in the frequency of passenger flights, which the majority of mail is flown on.

NZ Post said it could not put a time frame on when Kiwis can expect items from overseas, saying it would depend on whether post was coming via air or sea and whether the country overseas had a backlog at their end.

Some Kiwis are worried their mail has gone astray during the pandemic.

One man, who did not want to be named, said he had seen a ‘‘huge drop’’ in the amount of mail making it from overseas.

Before lockdown he used to receive upwards of a dozen letters, magazines and parcels each week, mostly from the US and UK.

That has dropped to zero since late March, he said, with no improvement as the country moved down alert levels.

‘‘I know of four parcels that have never been delivered.

‘‘Also missing are important financial documents, journals and personal mail.’’

An Auckland resident echoed his concerns, saying she had been waiting since February for important documents to arrive.

The man said reaching NZ Post was ‘‘hopeless’’.

‘‘It is impossible to get through on the 0800 number. I’ve gotten no response to my emails.’’

He said while the NZ Post website was ‘‘full of self-praise’’ for its response to Covid-19, ‘‘the reality looks quite different from the end user’s point of view’’.

NZ Post said the increased demand on its services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic had seen staff working 24/7 at 11 locations throughout New Zealand.