Getty U.S. Postal Service.
If you’re waiting for mail from the U.S. Postal Service, you’ll have to wait. USPS will not be delivering mail or packages on Memorial Day, and post offices will also be closed.
According to the USPS holiday schedule, the U.S. Postal Service observes ten official holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. So, if you’re hoping to receive something in the mail today, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow when mail services resume.
Will UPS and FedEx Deliver Mail?
UPS will also be closed on Memorial Day. All store locations and UPS Freight are all closed. The only service open on Memorial Day is UPS Express Critical, which includes air, surface, charter, hand carry, international secure, inside precision, and value-added services.
As for FedEx, on Monday, May 25 every service is closed except FedEx Custom Critical. FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost, FedEx Trade Networks, and FedEx Freight are all closed today. However, Custom Critical is listed as “same-day and overnight delivery of expedited freight.”
USPS’ Response to COVID-19
Effective April 17, 2020, USPS revealed that Postal Service Priority Mail® products and First-Class® packages would temporarily be delayed due to “limited transportation availability” as a result of coronavirus.
The USPS website reads, “Priority Mail’s two-day and three-day service commitments will be extended to three days and four days, respectively. Customers will continue to receive improved product tracking and as much as $50 in free insurance. Priority Mail Express service, which guarantees overnight service, and one-day service commitments for Priority Mail will not change. There is no impact to First-Class letters and flats. However, First-Class Package Service® two and three day service commitments will be extended to three and four days respectively.”
In a separate news statement, the U.S. Postal Service revealed a number of safety precautions that have been implemented at all USPS locations, including requiring employees to wear face coverings while at work, requesting customers use face coverings in retail facilities, updating cleaning policies, updating leave policies, and expanding the use of telework for remote employees, among others.
The USPS website reads, “According to the CDC, the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person to person, mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Spread is more likely when people are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)… The CDC recognizes that while it may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
An April article on the CDC website urges mail and parcel delivery drivers to stay home if they are sick, wear a cloth face covering, limit contact with coworkers and other individuals, and clean and disinfect any surfaces they come in contact with that are visibly dirty. They also recommend that delivery drivers practice everyday actions such as avoiding touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
Asked how mail and parcel delivery drivers can protect themselves, the company writes, “As a mail and parcel delivery driver, potential sources of exposure include having close contact with co-workers or delivery recipients, or when you touch surfaces touched or handled by a person who has COVID-19.”
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