![Royal Mail staff absences almost double level of 2018](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/120E4/production/_122065937_gettyimages-1230587858.jpg)
By Caroline Davies.
Business correspondent.
The image is from the same source.
Royal Mail has confirmed that absence levels are double what they were before the coronaviruses epidemic.
Most of the country is operating as normal.
A source with close knowledge of its operations said the internal situation is "horrific" due to sickness and increased demand in the run-up to Christmas.
That source said it was worse than a normal Christmas.
Increased demand to send goods by post and the build-up to Christmas had led us here.
"Sickness levels are twice the normal levels," they said.
The Royal Mail website says that offices that are experiencing difficulties may not be able to deliver the usual service temporarily.
The firm has pointed out that there are 21 offices that are experiencing delays out of 1,200 delivery offices around the country.
The source says there are bigger issues.
The Royal Mail website has a list of 21 offices that are not good. There are problems and delays across the country, but they are weeks behind.
The firm announced earlier in the year that it would keep on thousands of workers it had taken on in temporary positions given the record volumes of post it was delivering.
The Communication Workers Union said in an open letter on Friday that it was still difficult for workers.
Terry Pullinger, deputy general secretary of postal at the CWU, wrote that trying to maintain a great public service throughout the Pandemic has been incredibly difficult for everybody.
The CWU said that the blame lies with managerial capability issues.
The open letter discusses ways to improve recruitment by using family and friend referrals, as well as advertising on social media.
The Royal MailDeliveries are operating as normal across most of the country.
We aim to deliver to all addresses in six days a week. Local factors such as Covid-related self-isolation, high levels of sick absence, and other factors may temporarily prevent this from being possible in a small number of local offices.
They said that the firm provides targeted support for offices that see a lot of customers.
Are you employed by Royal Mail? Did you experience delays to your deliveries? Send your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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Christmas.
The Royal Mail.
The post offices are open.
A coronaviruses epidemic.