The U.S. Postal Service has a dedicated COVID-19 Command Response leadership team focused on employee, operational, business, and customer continuity during the coronavirus epidemic.

The service is keeping employees informed and encouraging healthy behaviors and protocols, including frequent hand washing, use of sanitizer and additional cleaning of work spaces. Employees who feel they are sick are encouraged to stay home.

The service also has worked with postal unions to temporarily expand leave options for employees.

To reduce health risks, the agency is temporarily modifying customer signature capture procedures. While maintaining a safe distance, employees will request the customer's first initial and last name so the information can be entered.

For increased safety, employees will ask the customer to step back a safe distance or close the screen door so that they may leave the item in the mail receptacle or appropriate location by the customer's door.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Surgeon General have indicated there is no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.

According to WHO, “the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, traveled and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.”

The CDC has reported a similar opinion about spread through packages and mail.

“Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets,” the CDC report said. “Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods, and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods.”