Wuhan
(Getty Images)
  • Mail to and from China will be delayed due to the Wuhan corona virus outbreak, the South African Post Office says.
  • Until air travel normalises, don't try to send mail to China.
  • Most flights between SA and China rely on regional transfers in places like Hong Kong, which are reducing flights fast.
  • For more stories go to www.BuinessInsider.co.za.

Until the air travel to and from China is normalised, don't bother trying to send mail there, the South African Post Office says.

"The post office has advised customers who intend to post items to China to wait until transport connections to the Chinese city are restored," the SA Government News Agency said. 

The SAPO also warned that customers expecting mail or packages from China should note "that they are likely to be delayed, as the airline connections to and from China have been suspended."

The coronavirus that originated in Wuhan is not thought to spread via contact with objects handled by infected people – such as mail – but only by contact with droplets from the respiratory system and, possibly, faeces. But passenger plane flights to and from the Chinese mainland have been scaled back significantly.

There are few passenger flights directly between Chinese and South African cities; mail aboard passenger liners will typically be carried on flights that connect via Hong Kong, Thailand, or other hubs in the region.

Flights between those hubs and China have been scaled back significantly. Among others, South Korean carrier Air Seoul cancelled all flights to China, Korean Air cancelled several flights, Cathay Pacific reduced its capacity between mainland China and Hong Kong by 50%. 

(Compiled by Phillip de Wet)

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