Coronavirus: Derry Royal Mail staff return to work after deep clean

Postal services have resumed in Londonderry after Royal Mail carried out a deep clean of the city's sorting office.

Staff had refused to enter the office on Tuesday due to concerns over the spread of Covid-19.

Almost 50 staff are off work because of Covid-19 at the site, the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) said.

Royal Mail confirmed the clean went ahead on Tuesday and caused "minor disruption to service".

It added that it was "working to resolve any additional concerns with our colleagues and our union".

The CWU's Charlie Kelly said around 50 workers are currently absent because of Covid-19 at the site.

Further clean of vehicles

He said staff returned to the office on Wednesday morning and were working to address a backlog of mail.

"At the minute we have 50 staff down plus six on annual leave, that's 56 staff out of 120 staff. With those numbers off it is going to take a while to clear up any backlog," he said.

A further clean of Royal Mail vehicles at the site is to take place later on Tuesday, he added.

There has been a sharp rise of confirmed cases over recent weeks in Northern Ireland's north west region.

There have been 4,439 confirmed cases in the Derry and Strabane council area since March - 3,156 of them were diagnosed since the start of October.

On Tuesday, Stormont's chief scientific adviser said there was "strong evidence" that coronavirus restrictions imposed in the Derry City and Strabane council area are making a difference.