'Thousands of face mask parcels stuck in mail'

A post office union says staff have been giving priority to packages containing masks for home address. Photo: RTHK

A union representing post office workers estimated there were 8,000 packages containing face masks in the Air Mail Centre at the airport on Saturday waiting for express delivery, with postmen trying to prioritise their distribution.



The Union of Hong Kong Post Office Employees said it believed face masks had made up 80 percent of its Speedpost deliveries, after checking the declaration details on the packages.



The union's chairman, Ip Kam-fu, said many of the mask packages came from Japan and South Korea, and others were sent from Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and North America.



Ip pointed out that the Post Office already delivered 2,400 packages on Friday, most of them Speedpost mails.



But he admitted that delivery amount was affected because the Post Office has implemented "special work arrangements", with only half of its staff at work.



He said staff at the Air Mail Centre had been handling the parcels with flexibility and gave priority to mask packages intended for residential addresses for deliveries.



He also urged the government to give postmen better protective gear, noting that they only have masks and alcohol sanitisers, but no gloves.



Ip said the government should boost its staff's protection soon as work sometimes take his colleagues to hospitals and that Post Office staff often have to handle mails from different origins, including the mainland.



He revealed that his department has agreed that staff can buy their own gloves for work and they will be reimbursed later.