Royal Mail confirms Bury St Edmunds office coronavirus cases but say it is “nowhere near” the figure reported on social media

Royal Mail has confirmed that some of their staff in Bury St Edmunds have tested positive for Coronavirus with other self-isolating but say that it is “nowhere near” the figure reported on social media.

Earlier this week a post from a staff member on Facebook claimed that 70 staff were self-isolating and there could be delays to the delivery service in the town.

Royal Mail, however, says that “there are currently four colleagues who have tested positive for coronavirus at Bury St Edmunds delivery office. A number of staff are self-isolating, but they are nowhere near the 70 figure.”

A Royal Mail Spokesperson said: “Royal Mail takes the health and safety of its colleagues, its customers and the local communities in which we operate very seriously. There is currently four colleagues that has tested positive for coronavirus at Bury St Edmunds Delivery Office. We wish them a speedy recovery. Some colleagues are also self-isolating. We have carried out an intensive clean of the site and have organised additional cleaning of key touch points and all communal areas. We are keeping the CWU, PHE and colleagues updated.

“Throughout this crisis, every decision we make puts the health of our people and customers first. We have put in place a range of preventive measures to protect both our customers and our colleagues. We were the first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery. We pioneered contact-free delivery. We are temporarily not handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures. As well as encouraging good hand hygiene, standard ways of working have been revised to ensure that colleagues maintain appropriate social distancing at all times. All staff have been briefed about the social distancing measures jointly agreed by local management and the CWU. This has been supplemented with visible reminders such as posters and one-way floor markings”.