Chaos as posties go sick with Covid

MASS coronavirus sickness absence among Royal Mail delivery and sorting office staff has created 28 post blackspots, it has been revealed.

A shortage of workers means 27 areas in England and one in Northern Ireland are no longer receiving regular post. The affected areas include 13 in or near London, while others include Leeds, Chelmsford, Widnes in Cheshire and Margate in Kent.

Some residents in these areas complain of not having had mail for more than a month, which was part of a wider national problem that led to delays in Christmas post.

It emerged last night that the number of areas affected by could be higher than claimed by Royal Mail. According to the Telegraph, an additional 30 areas are suffering from delays.

The situation has created fears that elderly residents will not receive notifications of when a coronavirus vaccine is available to them.

Valerie Wallbank from Hainault, north-east London, told a local newspaper she had not received any mail since December 12. She said: ‘Some people are not bothered because they do everything online but for some of us it’s quite important.’ The issue has prompted calls, including from MPs and the Communication Workers Union, for postal workers to be added to the priority list of people receiving Covid vaccinations.

The problems were confirmed by the Royal Mail through a statement on its website. It said staff are ‘working hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high-quality service we can to all our customers’ despite the impact of the pandemic. It added: ‘The combination of greatly increased uptake of online shopping, and the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, mean that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes.

‘Every single parcel and letter is important to us. Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards. Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North, said while it was understandable that Royal Mail was being affected by the virus, the problems risk a ‘ serious knock- on impact on people getting important NHS correspondence’.

He said: ‘I wonder if there is a way for NHS correspondence to be clearly labelled as such and prioritised for delivery. No one wants to see a situation where people are missing their vaccination appointments.’