Royal Mail delivery office in Manchester is hit by coronavirus outbreak with 19 workers testing positive days after city was put into lockdown amid spike in Covid cases
- Testing unit is being set up at the Manchester Delivery Office on Oldham Road
- Communication Workers Union expect all staff to be tested within three days
- Comes after ‘major incident’ declared in Greater Manchester after spike in cases
A Royal Mail delivery office has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak after 19 workers tested positive for the virus, according to union.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) expects all staff to be tested within the next three days. Contract tracing has begun.
A mobile testing unit is being set up at the Manchester Delivery Office on Oldham Road and the centre remains open, with staff continuing to work, according to the BBC.
It comes after a ‘major incident’ was declared on Monday in Greater Manchester after a spike in coronavirus cases in the region.
A mobile testing unit is being set up at the Manchester Delivery Office on Oldham Road
Areas of north west England are already under increased lockdown restrictions announced last week after a spike in cases.
The CWU said that the union is working with health and safety representatives.
Director of Public Health for Manchester David Regan said they acted quickly in order to ‘contain and limit further potential spread’.
A Royal Mail spokesman told the BBC they had put a range of ‘preventative measures’ in place and the site had been extensively cleaned.
A major incident was declared in Greater Manchester on Monday after a spike in coronavirus cases. Pictured: Manchester city centre on Monday evening
He added that the company are working with Public Health England to test all staff and that workers had been briefed on social distancing measures.
During the pandemic, Royal Mail have introduced a number of measures to protect both their staff and customers.
This includes workers social distancing, only having one person in a delivery vehicle at once and not handing over hand-held devices to get signatures.
They have also been providing disposable latex gloves to any colleague who would like to use them and promoting regular hand washing.
The government asks anyone who has been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus to self-isolate for 14 days.
Mr Regan said PHE would be working with the Royal Mail until that 14 days is up to ‘ensure all the relevant action has been taken’
Increased lockdown measures in north west England, including Greater Manchester, mean people cannot meet up with people from different households inside their homes or in gardens
Increased lockdown measures in north west England mean people cannot meet up with people from different households inside their homes or in gardens.
It also bans separate households from mixing in pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues.
The new measures have also delayed the easing of other restrictions due to take place on August 1, such as the reopening of bowling alleys and casinos, pushing them back to August 15.
Greater Manchester boroughs, home to almost three million people, compromise more than a third of the list of the top 20 worst affected local authority areas for Covid-19 infections, with seven entries.