Since the start of the pandemic, more than 100 mail carriers across the country have died from the coronavirus.
Postal Workers Union officials say 18,750 postal workers were quarantined last week because they had either been diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19.
Nick Casselli, chairman of the local union branch, says the Philadelphia area is no exception.
He says several positive cases are diagnosed and reported every day.
“If you come to work and your colleague is positive about the coronavirus, no matter how dangerous it is, and how harmful it is. Coming to work is scary,” said Casselli.
The Postal Service was already lagging behind in November after prioritizing the avalanche of post-in ballots in the run-up to this year’s election.
As a result, an untold number of people are still waiting for their holiday packages to arrive almost a week after Christmas.
That’s twice as stressful for small businesses that rely on customer satisfaction.
Tara Lieberher of Harleysville, Montgomery County, launched a silk pillowcase and scrunchie company just five weeks ago.
“When I should focus on getting more orders and getting this out to people. I spend all my time on the phone with the post office trying to figure out where everything is,” she said.
But Casselli says that even though they are understaffed and overloaded, postmen continue to work around the clock.
“We’re trying to rectify this ship, but now, but the perfect storm really put us behind the 8-ball,” she said.
Postal workers say they are gaining ground in delivering parcels backlog, but they don’t expect it to be fully caught up in a few more weeks.
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