(WSB photo, West Seattle Junction post office)
Among the workers who don’t have the option of staying home to do their job … your U.S. Postal Service employees. Letter carriers, for example, are continuing to deliver, to houses, apartments, businesses, and other places, as always. One of your local letter carriers called us the other night, asking if we could share her request: Please allow your letter carriers to observe “social distancing.” Some residents, she said, are “coming right up to the door” to greet her as usual – but as we all have to remember, these are not “usual” times. “A lot of people don’t realize how serious this is all getting,”she said. She can’t necessarily disinfect every single thing before and after she touches it – “we’re touching so many things all day” – so please allow her to drop off the packages, put the mail in the box or slot, and move on, for your safety and hers. “I adore my people, I would do anything for them,” she said. “I’m not trying to be rude …” just trying to stay safe.
P.S. As for whether the mail itself can spread the virus – the latest USPS statement on COVID-19 was issued on Sunday. It reiterates “the CDC the World Health Organization, as well as the Surgeon General have indicated that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.”
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