Royal Mail confirm disruption to post in Plymouth due to Covid-related absences

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https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/p ... st-5763268

The postage giant has said that in a limited number of areas, there has been disruption to service due to coronavirus-related absence

Like many other sectors and businesses, Royal Mail is suffering a disruption to some of its services due to 'Covid-related absences'.

It comes after a resident in Plympton reported that they hadn't received any mail since Saturday, July 31.

The postage giant has said that in a limited number of areas, there has been disruption to service due to coronavirus-related absence - and as a result, postal workers are focusing on providing priority mail, and providing 'as comprehensive a service as possible'.

A Royal Mail Spokesperson said: “The health and safety of our colleagues and our customers is our number one priority.

"In a limited number of areas, we are experiencing some disruption to service due to COVID related absences.

"In impacted areas, we are focused on providing as comprehensive a service as possible to our customers.”

This comes as it was reported earlier this month that the number of people being told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app has fallen dramatically.

A total of 395,971 alerts were sent in the week to July 28 telling people in England and Wales that they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.

This is down 43% on the previous week, when 690,129 alerts were sent on the app, government figures show.

There has also been a big decrease in the number of check-ins to venues using the app.

There were 2.4 million check-ins in the week to July 28 in England and Wales – down 65% on the previous week.

Experts said the main reason for the sharp decrease in alerts is the fall in virus cases, but some acknowledged there could also be people simply not using the app anymore.

On Monday it was announced that the app was being updated so fewer contacts will be instructed to isolate after an increase in people being pinged since lockdown restrictions ended – a so-called “pingdemic”.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said the “logic” behind the app was being tweaked, although the sensitivity and risk threshold will remain unchanged.

Instead of checking contacts for five days before a positive test, the app will only go back two days.