Three weeks ago, India put into effect what is the largest pandemic lockdown the world has ever seen. The decision has led to all businesses — apart from essential services — to shut down their activities, leaving numerous supply chains stock-still.
And because the pause button has been hit on courier services as well, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and labs at the forefront against COVID-19 have been left with no one to deliver them essential medical supplies.
It turns out, however, that among the essential services left running is India’s national postal service — the largest in the world — which has a huge fleet of postal vans crisscrossing a wide network of post offices across the country.
When the service heard that healthcare facilities have been left in a lurch, it was been quick to step forward and offer its services to help transport the much-needed medical equipment and drugs to where they are needed.
Now, the postal service is delivering everything from batches of lifesaving drugs to COVID-19 tests, to N95 masks and ventilators moving medicine and equipment between major cities and states — mostly via its iconic red postal vans.
