Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 100 postal workers across the country have died from coronavirus.
Officials of the Postal Workers’ Union say that last week, 18,750 postal workers were in quarantine because they were diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19.
Nick Casselli, president of the local union chapter, says the Philadelphia area is no exception.
He says several positive cases are diagnosed and reported every day.
“When you come to work and your co-worker comes in positive with the coronavirus, how dangerous it is and how harmful it is. It’s scary to come to work,” Casselli said.
The postal service is already facing a backlog in November, after giving priority to the avalanche of postal ballots that led this year’s elections.
The result is a huge number of people still waiting for the arrival of holiday packages almost a week after Christmas.
This is twice as stressful for small businesses that rely on customer satisfaction.
Tara Lieberher of Harleysville, Montgomery County, launched a pillow and silk business just five weeks ago.
“When I should focus on getting more orders and forwarding this to people. I spend all my time on the phone with the post office trying to find out where everything is,” she said.
But Casselli says that although they are underemployed and overburdened, postal workers continue to work non-stop.
“We’re trying to straighten this ship, but right now, but the perfect storm really put us behind the 8 balls,” she said.
Post officials say he is gaining ground on the delivery of parcel arrears, but is not expected to be fully caught for a few more weeks.
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