From Royal Mail
“We have been working alongside government guidelines and introduced some temporary changes to our operational delivery procedures and collecting of items from a Customer Service Point with regards to customer’s `signing’ to receive their parcels.

The safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, members of the public and the communities in which we operate is paramount. Some elements of public health guidance may change in the coming weeks. We may be required to temporarily update some of our policies and practices. One such change implemented on Saturday are amendments to our Operational Delivery processes for the delivery of any parcels which cannot be posted through a letter box or that requires a signature. This will affect the delivery of 1st and 2nd class parcels and Signed for items, Royal Mail Tracked 24 and 48 items, Special Delivery Guaranteed and Age Verification items. We will no longer be asking customers for signatures, or handing the parcels across to them. Instead, our postmen and women will be practising social distancing, waiting to confirm customers retrieve their parcels from the doorstep securely, and entering alternative confirmation details into PDAs themselves, instead of handing devices and parcels to customers.

Here are our official guidelines on Signing for and receiving items
In order to protect both our people and customers as much as possible, we will not be handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures. Postmen and women will instead log the name of the person accepting the item. This will apply to all deliveries that require a signature.

Additionally, for all customers (including those who are self-isolating) where we need to deliver any parcel that won’t fit through your letterbox, we will place your item at your door. Having knocked on your door, we will then step aside to a safe distance while you retrieve your item. This will ensure your item is delivered securely rather than being left outside.

If you are unable to come to the door at all we will issue a ‘Something for You’ card, advising of other ways you can arrange to get your item. For example, by getting a friend or family member to collect the parcel from our local Customer Service Point on your behalf. In this situation, and to keep your mail as secure as possible, they will need to bring along the card we left you and a form of ID in the name of the person the item is addressed to.

We also have full details on our website under; www.royalmail.com/coronavirus I would recommend that you refer to this link over the coming days/weeks because any updates/changes will be posted on here first.

International Delivery
In terms of International delivery, I have copied a table of the current impact for International Deliveries below and hope this is of help to you.

Destination
Latest Update (16 March)
Iran
Effective from 09/03/20: Our carrier temporary suspended flights between Europe and Iran at short notice, but these resumed on Thursday 12 March. Mail can now be accepted but delivery delays of 2-3 days are expected.
Italy
Effective from 10/03/20: Our air carrier has cancelled all flights to Italy until further notice. In order to keep mail to Italy moving we’ll be using the road network, which will result in an additional 24-48 hours transit time. There are also delivery delays on the ground.
Kuwait
Effective from 12/03/20: Our carrier has temporarily suspended flights to Kuwait until further notice. As a result, any posted mail will be held while we await for service to resume. Delivery delays can be expected until flights resume.
USA
Effective from 12/03/20: We have been operating a normal service to the USA following the partial EU travel ban announcement on 11 March by Donald Trump. However, this has now been extended to include passengers from the UK. Whilst this ban does not include freight, we use passenger aircraft to transport mail to the USA. We are urgently talking to partners to assess the impact and will advise of any changes as soon as we can.
Saudi Arabia
Effective from 13/03/20: Saudi Post has advised to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and under requirements of the government of Saudi Arabia, all letter-post, parcel-post and EMS items requiring a signature on delivery will be delivered to customers indirectly. It won’t be mandatory for Saudi Post to provide written proof of delivery, delivery confirmation will be based on a code sent to the addressee’s mobile phone.
China
Effective from January 2020: As a result of reduced air capacity and emergency delivery procedures being taken to contain the virus on the ground in China, it is inevitable that customers sending items to China will experience delays to delivery. China Post are contacting the recipient by phone, before delivery, to agree a delivery preference. As result of this process, delays are to be expected for inbound international mail to China.

South Korea, Taiwan and Japan

Effective from March 2020: We continue to accept items bound for these destinations, however customers should expect delivery delays as air connections to these countries are reduced which is limiting access to these countries. We are seeking alternative solutions to maintain our service.

The impact on mail services in other countries affected by Coronavirus outbreaks can be found on our www.royalmail.com/internationalupdates”

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