October 23, 2020

UPDATE 96: International Mail Service Updates Related to COVID-19

On October 23, 2020, the Postal Service™ received a notification from Slovenská pošta, the designated operator of Slovakia, advising that due to the increasing number of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s government and public health authorities have declared a partial lockdown across the whole country, which will come into effect on October 24, 2020 and last for at least three weeks. During the lockdown, postal services will continue to function with restrictions. Items normally requiring the addressee’s signature upon delivery will be handed over without signature. Processing and delivery of all types of services, including outbound and inbound letter post, parcel post and Express Mail Service (EMS), will be impacted. Force majeure will remain in place.

Unless otherwise noted, service updates to a particular country do not affect delivery of military and diplomatic mail.

This service update affects Priority Mail Express International^® (PMEI), Priority Mail International^® (PMI), First-Class Mail International^® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service^® (FCPIS^®), International Priority Airmail^® (IPA^®), International Surface Air Lift^® (ISAL^®), and M-Bag^® items.

The DMM Advisory will continue to provide updates as they are received. For a full list of international service disruptions, please visit https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm