‘High number’ of postal workers in Cheshire town ill with coronavirus

A ‘high number’ of postal workers are said to be off work ill with coronavirus in one part of Cheshire.

Royal Mail announced yesterday that Widnes, specifically the WA8 postcode, was one of 28 areas where post might be late due to its workforce being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also said that there was significant delays on their road network on Monday with some mail centres reporting that not all mail was processed to schedule, and may arrive later than expected.

However, a Facebook post from Widnes MP, Derek Twigg said he had received a number of messages from residents saying they had not received their post.

But a number of postal workers had also been in touch with the MP and told him that some of them had been seriously ill with with COVID-19, including a number being hospitalised.

Mr Twigg said it appeared that a high number of postal workers in Widnes had caught the virus and were self-isolating.

He said: “A number of my Widnes constituents have been contacting me regarding not receiving post, I have also not been receiving post.

“I have also been in contact with a number of my constituents who are post workers, some of whom sadly have been and are seriously ill with Covid-19, including a number being hospitalised.

“There appears to be a high number of Widnes post workers who have caught Covid-19 and are obviously having to stay at home to recover and to protect others.”

The Widnes MP said on a ‘practical level’ had had contacted Royal Mail to see what the company was doing to make things safer for its workers.

He added: “On a practical level I have contacted Royal Mail to seek clarification on what they are doing to make things safer for the post workers and what the plans are going forward.

“I have also contacted the Chief Executives of our local hospitals to advise them of the situation so they can address how to contact people with appointments until services can get back to normal.

“In addition I have contacted the Chief Executive of Halton CCG to address alternative communication means for vaccination appointments and Halton Borough Council to ensure the sorting office is being checked to make sure it is safe for our post workers, who have been at the forefront of keeping communications going throughout the crisis.

“I think the fact that our postal workers’ service has been so sorely missed in some parts of Widnes shows how important they are to the community.

“I wish them all the best in their recoveries and hope to see them back out on their normal rounds as soon as they are fully recovered and well enough.”

In response to delays in the postal service a spokesperson for Royal Mail said yesterday: “Royal Mail is working hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high quality service we can to all our customers, large and small.

“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.

“This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe.

“In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

CheshireLive contacted Royal Mail for comment regarding postal workers in Widnes contracting coronavirus.