MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2021) The UK's Royal Mail warned on Tuesday that customers across the country may face delays in receiving letters and parcels over the coming days amid a surge in demand and the stringent social distancing measures imposed when lockdown restrictions were put into place by the government last week.
"Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards. This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe," Royal Mail said in a press release.
Royal Mail listed 28 areas, 27 in England and one in Northern Ireland, where customers can expect to face delays in receiving their deliveries. Many of the affected areas are in or around London.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a third national lockdown for England last week amid a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. The restrictions are expected to last until at least mid-February.
The devolved governments of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, have also imposed similar measures.
The UK's Department of Health and Social Care registered 46,169 new positive tests for COVID-19 on Monday, taking the country's case total past 3.1 million.
