Hongkong Post made a smooth start on the first-day delivery of CuMask by arranging the delivery of around 97% of about 120,000 items received from the Government the preceding day.

Hongkong Post made the statement in response to media enquiries about the delivery of the free reusable face masks that began today, noting that the remaining masks could not be delivered due to address problems.

Arrangements will be made for the redelivery of the remainder tomorrow, it added.

Among the despatch order arranged for the first day, about 70% was successfully delivered. For the remaining 30%, post office collection would be arranged as no one was present to receive the delivery at the registered addresses.

On manpower, in addition to the 1,650 postmen responsible for normal mail delivery service, Hongkong Post has mobilised approximately 300 postmen to support delivery offices that require additional manpower given the distribution of items varies from district to district.

In general, each postman is required to deliver 70 to 80 CuMask items on average. Since the quantity of items distributed for delivery are based on the despatch order and therefore varies among different beats, delivered quantities may vary.

Regarding overtime work arrangements, delivery postmen normally work from 8am to 4pm. Overtime may be arranged if the work assigned cannot be completed within the working hours.

Taking occupational safety and health of its staff into account, Hongkong Post usually limits overtime to no more than 3.5 hours.

If postmen still cannot complete the day’s task after working 3.5 hours of overtime, Hongkong Post will deploy postmen from other sections to share the workload.

Hongkong Post emphasised that it will make thorough planning on manpower and resources based on the despatch orders of CuMask received from the Government, with a view to accomplishing the task smoothly.

It added that it greatly appreciates the enormous effort rendered by all postmen and support staff on the back end in this task.