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Royal Mail has today issued a statement following the government’s latest UK lockdown rules and social distancing measures amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
In recent days there’s been guidance on key workers and critical sectors, in which ‘postal services and delivery’ has been identified as an essential public service. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that non-essential retail shops are to close immediately, while issuing a list of essential stores, including supermarkets, pharmacies, the Post Office, and home and hardware shops (to name a few), which will remain open.
Online shopping and home deliveries, including food deliveries and takeaways, will continue working as normal, and, as an essential service, Royal Mail is continuing to deliver mail across the UK.
‘We understand the important role we have to play in helping people to stay connected,’ said Shane O’Riordain, Managing Director of Marketing, Regulation And Corporate Affairs at Royal Mail. ‘We are working hard to deliver the UK’s mail. The mail is still scheduled to be collected and delivered as normal. This is a fast moving situation and local service levels may at times be impacted by local absences.’
There are, however, some changes to how you will receive letters and parcels at home, including those that require a signature.
Letters and Parcels
‘Public health authorities have advised people receiving parcels are not at risk of contracting coronavirus,’ said O’Riordain. ‘From experience with other coronaviruses, we know that these types of viruses don’t survive long on objects, such as letters or parcels. This complements the highly publicised guidance from public health authorities for people to wash their hands more often than usual using soap and hot water.’
Important: For items posted from Thursday 19 March 2020 onwards, Royal Mail will no longer guarantee deliveries by 1pm the next working day. Special Delivery parcels and letters will still be prioritised, with the aim to deliver by 1pm or before the end of day. The Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am service remains unchanged.
Receiving parcels
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Royal Mail staff are temporarily not handing over hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures. Postmen and women will instead log the name of the person accepting the item, and can sign on their behalf. This will apply to all deliveries that require a signature.
For all customers (including those who are self-isolating), if you are awaiting a parcel that won’t fit through your letterbox, it will be left at your door. Having knocked on the door, the postman or woman will step aside to a safe distance while you retrieve your item. This will ensure the item is delivered securely rather than being left outside.
But…
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‘If they are unable to come to the door at all we will issue a “Something for You” card, advising of other ways they can arrange to get their item,’ explained O’Riordain. ‘For example, by getting a friend or family member to collect the parcel from our local Customer Service Point on their behalf. In this situation, and to keep their mail as secure as possible, they will need to bring along the card we left and a form of ID in the name of the person the item is addressed to.’
Care homes
To protect the elderly and most vulnerable, Royal Mail is making arrangements to deliver to a central point (e.g. reception) rather than individual addresses within care homes from 19th March: ‘These changes will help to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and the vulnerable in society.’
Staff
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• Standard ways of working are being revised to ensure that, wherever possible, colleagues stay two metres apart.
• A new rule will allow only one person in a Royal Mail delivery vehicle at any one time.
• Processes have been reviewed to minimise the passing of work between colleagues.
• Royal Mail is calling for the washing of hands when colleagues enter and leave Royal Mail buildings, as well as at regular times during the day. ‘We have good supplies of soap and paper towels. We are also providing disposable latex gloves, available on request,’ said O’Riordain.
• They’ve adopted enhanced disinfectant cleaning of communal areas in all Royal Mail sites on a daily basis.
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