From Bad to Worse: Post offices shut down in Bay Area?

[andrew547]

From a San Jose newspaper today 3/16:

The U.S. Postal Service will close all offices until further notice to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. Unless otherwise notified, services will otherwise continue “without interruption,” according to an announcement from USPS today.

This is one of the 7 Bay Area counties that issued the "shelter in place for 3 weeks" order of the public that starts at midnight tonight. Only essential services workers are supposed to be out, which includes mail, but this does not mean the post office will necessarily be open.

Does anyone know if post offices are indeed closed? If so, how are we supposed to ship? Flag down mail carriers? The USPS did say they will continue service without interruption so I assume they are still delivering mail.

God, if we aren't careful, there will be no economy left to save.

[moondogblues]

Was the paper the San Jose Mercury News? If so, you may want to call them and set them straight.

[tealt]

 As a long time subscriber to the San Jose Mercury News I can attest to the fact that this newspaper regularly produces panic-inducing headlines .

Also, the mayor of San Jose, IMHO, is one of the dumbest politicians to come along in quite awhile.  I just hope people get angry and vote on all local races in November.

[tealt]

Are all those small business that fail supposed to thank the mayor?

Are all the hourly workers who loose their jobs and can't pay their rent or mortgage supposed to thank the mayor?

Are we supposed to thank the mayor and county and state politicians for the financial disaster they are inflicting on low and middle class families?

Read about the percentage of people actually become seriously ill from this virus.  Read about how many of those who die (of all ages) have pre-existing respiratory or immune conditions.

What about next fall? Thousands die in California each year from the seasonal flu.  What will the mayor and other politicians do about that?   Will they force schools to shut down and restaurants to close to prevent those thousands of deaths?

[turquoisetulips]

You can always schedule a package pick-up on USPS . com  picknparley 

Yep and it's super handy . 

[mr_lincoln]

@andrew547   The question is twofold and this is where eBay needs to step up with up to the minute announcements with proposed solutions based on our USPS "Partner".    Is the announcement saying closed tot he public or closed to workers too meaning the "lights are NOT on and everybody's at home"?

The twofold question would be "Will it affect Deliveries and Pickups?"

At this point eBay should just waive all delivery issues for Sellers and Buyers in the affected area(s).

[shipscript]

I checked with my local PO a little farther up the peninsula, but still within the "shelter-in-place" mandate, and they will be open for business as usual. The station master had heard of that false report of closures, but assured me it was bogus. 

We are not in crisis here. We can walk about, drive our cars, and can go to the grocery.  The cops are out roaming around because they have nothing better to do. However, the quiet will probably last only a week until boredom sets in or cabin fever amongst not-so-compatible household members causes conflicts to erupt.

[keziak]

Let's say the mail carriers are in fact still working. I would go to the local Post Office in the BACK where the carriers put the mail on the loading dock. Maybe wait around until a worker shows up. Confirm that even if the lobby is closed you can drop the mail off on the dock.  Easy. That is what I do anyway for almost all mail. 

[jaho_7673]

It would be nice to have up to the minute announcements from eBay regarding shipping via the USPS — but we can all agree that this is uncharted territory for everyone.  Calm, cool, calculated announcements will be more fruitful for buyers and sellers alike.

I do agree on eBay waiving, or at the very least practicing leniency on sellers that have shipping issues.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@jaho_7673 wrote:

It would be nice to have up to the minute announcements from eBay regarding shipping via the USPS ....

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Do you believe that eBay somehow has access to information that USPS does not provide to the general public?

[mansons2005]

"Read about the percentage of people actually become seriously ill from this virus. "

Read about the 300 that died in one day in Italy - some because they were triaged and could not be treated due to the lack ventilators, etc.

And, ultimately, were are in a worse position than Italy at the present moment. Jobs and small businesses will survive with the aide of the government - your grandparents or grandchildren may not........................

[tealt]

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@shipscript wrote:

I checked with my local PO a little farther up the peninsula, but still within the "shelter-in-place" mandate, and they will be open for business as usual. The station master had heard of that false report of closures, but assured me it was bogus. 

We are not in crisis here. We can walk about, drive our cars, and can go to the grocery.  The cops are out roaming around because they have nothing better to do. However, the quiet will probably last only a week until boredom sets in or cabin fever amongst not-so-compatible household members causes conflicts to erupt.

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My PO is also open, plans to stay open, and my carrier was cheerful and chatty when she picked up my packages.

Where in the world do these lets-all-panic rumors get started?

You certainly have that right about not-so-compatible housemates.  Pretty soon the cops will have something to do--answering domestic violence calls.

[tealt]

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@mansons2005 wrote:
"Read about the percentage of people actually become seriously ill from this virus. "

Read about the 300 that died in one day in Italy - some because they were triaged and could not be treated due to the lack ventilators, etc.

And, ultimately, were are in a worse position than Italy at the present moment. Jobs and small businesses will survive with the aide of the government - your grandparents or grandchildren may not........................

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If my grandparents or parents hadn't been dead for many years, I might be (depending on their general health) worried about them.  I wouldn't be visiting them in assisted/care situations.

I am over 75, in excellent health, and have no concerns for myself.  If I get "bad cold" symptoms, I'll stay home, rest, and drink fluids--as I always do when I get my one yearly cold.

If you read reliable, non-US-politics-driven news sources (I recommend the BBC World Online pages), you will discover that this virus has had little or no effect on children who have no pre-existing immune or respiratory problems.

Scare headlines from Italy have little relationship to the situation in Santa Clara County.

[moondogblues]

I do hope you are correct...will check back in two weeks.

[picknparley]

".... were are in a worse position than Italy at the present moment. ..."

Not true.  Italy made some huge mistakes weeks ago and that's why they're in the situation they're experiencing.  We, here in the US, shut down travel from the infected areas right away while the European nations left their countries open to anyone for far too long. 

We are not in a worse position than Italy.

[ryanrobyn]

If need be I'd just continue to print all Ebay labels at home and shove them into the pick up boxes even though I am not supposed to. There has to be a remedy for no counter service for sellers who can't do carrier p/u due to being at work or carriers not doing their jobs and picking items up. I would suggest changing your mail out to a later date to accommodate the packages actually picked up as they will not have the labels processed probably until the next day.

But I have noticed that the post office has done Nothing to prevent the spread of the virus - no service counters, handles or doors are ever being wiped down. It is disgusting. Maybe they could spend their time off by cleaning up the areas.