The US Postal Service is in crisis, with lawmakers warning that plunging mail volumes could shut it down by June without “urgent” financial help — threatening everything from critical medicine deliveries and vote by mail to a third of Amazon orders.
But the crisis is far more than financial. The National Association of Letter Carriers, the union representing USPS city carriers, said 51 USPS employees had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday. On top of that, nearly 2,000 were in quarantine.
“As the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases have increased throughout the general public, so too have been the number of postal employees who have tested positive,” a statement from the union’s president, Fredric Rolando, read. “About half of the postal employees are quarantined by order of public health officials and half have chosen to self-quarantine.”
The union announced the coronavirus-related death of New York City carrier Rakkhon Kim, who was 50, on Thursday.