No changes in hours or services due to coronavirus at Weiser post office

By: 
Steve Lyon

Keeping the nation’s mail moving is considered an essential service, and the Weiser post office has not reduced hours or made any major operational changes due to the threat of coronavirus.
 The post office has recently implemented measures to protect employees and the public from exposure to the coronavirus and limit the spread of the illness. It’s not exactly business as usual with the current pandemic, but the changes have been minor.
 Plexiglass has been installed at the counter at the post office to create a cough/sneeze barrier between employees and the public. There also are tape markings on the lobby floor for customers to follow the social distancing rule of six feet of separation as they wait in line for service.
 Weiser post office manager Chad Franklin said employees have been offered face masks and gloves if they want them to use on the job. Employees also have been following the rules of social distancing. The post office staff is small so it’s important to try to keep everyone healthy.
 The mail and packages that come in are not treated any differently now than prior to the coronavirus outbreak. The mail is not disinfected before it is handled by postal workers. Experts have said the coronavirus doesn’t survive long on cardboard or paper.
 There have been some changes in how mail is delivered around town by carriers. Instead of delivering mail to individual departments in the county courthouse, which is closed as a precaution to prevent the spread of coronavirus, a county employee comes outside to get the mail.
 The post office has been collecting and holding mail for some Weiser businesses that have been closed since the governor issued a stay-home order on March 25 that is in effect for 21 days. The governor and public health officials will decide if the order should be extended.
 “A lot of businesses have been good about communicating with us,” Franklin said.
 Mail carriers out on deliveries are following new directives when it comes to getting customer signatures for packages. While maintaining a safe distance, employees will request the customer’s first initial and last name so the employee can enter the information on “mobile delivery devices.”
 Mail carriers won’t hand mail or packages directly to residents under the new coronavirus guidelines. Instead, employees will politely ask the customer to step back a safe distance or close the screen door or door so that they can leave the item in the mailbox or by the door.
 At the national level, the U.S. Postal Service has a Coronavirus Disease 2019 Command Response leadership team that is focusing on customer safety and the health and safety of more than 600,000 employees during the current pandemic.
 The postal service has continually distributed millions of masks, gloves and sanitizing products are available and distributed to more than 30,000 locations every day.
 The postal service delivers everything from much needed medications to Social Security checks and is the leading delivery service for online purchases, which makes it part of the nation’s “critical infrastructure,” the USPS said.

Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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