Coronavirus: USPS to continue China and Hong Kong services, but removes time guarantees
- The United States Postal Service (USPS) will continue to accept mail for China, Hong Kong and Macau but has temporarily suspended the guarantee on priority mail
- More than 70 airlines worldwide have cancelled or cut flights to China amid coronavirus fears
The United States Postal Service has only temporarily suspend time guarantees on shipments destined for China and Hong Kong, and not suspended services all together, despite earlier media reports.
“USPS will be temporarily suspending the guarantee on priority mail express international destined for China and Hong Kong, effective Monday, February 10,” said a United States Postal Service (USPS) service alert banner on its website.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that USPS would suspend items destined for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, as it was “experiencing significant difficulties” in dispatching letters, parcels and express mail to these destinations, and services would not be resumed “until sufficient transport capacity becomes available”.
However, the report was denied by USPS, who said: “Contrary to some media reports, the US Postal Service continues to accept mail destined to China, Hong Kong and Macau.”
Contrary to some media reports, the US Postal Service continues to accept mail destined to China, Hong Kong and Macau
“Additionally, we are not accepting transit mail from other countries sending their mail through US Postal Service offices of exchange (International Service Centers) destined to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” the statement said.
More than 70 airlines worldwide have cancelled or cut flights to China amid coronavirus fears.
On Tuesday, American Airlines announced it would extend the suspension of its China and Hong Kong flights until April 24, a month longer than it had previously planned, as travel demands have waned.
In addition to the USPS, postal operators in Singapore, South Africa, Australia and Sweden have been encountering difficulties in deliveries because of flight suspensions, with items unable to be sent from or to China.
Shipments transiting China to other countries – North Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – will also be affected. They will be temporarily stored by China Post and forwarded to destination countries once the flights are resumed, Associated Press said.
China’s domestic courier services have also been disrupted amid the contagion.
On Saturday, the State Post Bureau urged the country’s major courier companies to restore over 40 per cent of their normal handling capacity by the middle of this month and continue to increase their handling capacity based on developments related to the outbreak.
The coronavirus illness, which has been officially named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation, is believed to have originated at a seafood and meat market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
The virus has spread to at least 24 countries, claiming at least 1,363 lives – all in China except for two in Hong Kong and the Philippines – and sickening more than 60,000 people worldwide, with tens of thousands more cases suspected.
