ROY, Utah (ABC4 News) – There are many essential workers on the front lines who ensure you get necessities safely. Employees from the United States Postal Service share on how they’re working around the COVID-19 pandemic.
You might want to walk up to your mailman and grab your mail, but during coronavirus pandemic, be cautious and think otherwise.
Going from home to home is a daily routine for mail carrier, Russel Lovell. He says if someone is outside, usually they want to interact with him. But just like you, he’s trying to stay safe during this crisis.
“For your safety and our safety, just stay with the guidelines about the six feet, let us deliver the mail, come in after us,” said Lovell.
The United States Postal Service is busier now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the postmaster in Roy.
Signs on the door instruct customers to stand six feet apart from one another and marks on the ground.
“Our clerks in the front office are certainly at the most risk at contact with the public, so we ask when they hand the package to our sales and service associate that they do step back and adhere to that six foot guideline,” said Kade Bambrough, Post Master at the Roy Post Office.
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University say COVID-19 could live for 24 hours on cardboard and can live in the air up to three hours and on certain surfaces for several days. There is no evidence the virus is being spread through mail and packages.
But the post office is still taking precautions.
Workers are given gloves, masks and sanitizers and are encouraged to use them, but it hasn’t become mandatory yet, according to USPS leaders.
The company distributes sanitizing and cleaning supplies to over 30,000 locations every day, according to the Postal Service.
“They’re driving around, touching somewhere between 600 and 800 mailbox lids and so they also need to stay safe and adhere to those guidelines,” said Bambrough.
Mail carriers are encouraged to spray down their vehicles before and after their shift, but they aren’t disinfecting your mail.
The United States Postal Service is looking for people to hire during the pandemic, so if you have lost your job, or you are looking for an opportunity, make sure to go to USPS.com.
