SA Post Office halts mail to and from Southeast Asia over coronavirus fears

The South African Post Pffice (Sapo) has advised its clients that it cannot accept mail destined to China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea due to what it calls challenges caused by the novel coronavirus.

Because Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Kuala Lumpur are affected by the delay, they will thus also not be accepted.

“The airline currently used by the SA post office for transport to and from these countries is unable to uplift mail due to challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, mail from these counties meant for South Africa will also be delayed,” said the post office in a statement.

Sapo apologised for the inconvenience and said it will resume services once suitable arrangements have been made with different airlines. However, mail to Hong Kong is not affected.

RELATED: SA’s coronavirus tally rises to 13 with six new cases added

On Wednesday, six new confirmed cases of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in South Africa raised the country’s total tally to 13. However, one patient has reportedly already recovered from the original seven.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.