The office of the Postmaster General, Mumbai, has thrown its weight behind employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their families.

The postal department has lost four people to the pandemic, while nearly 40 employees and their family members have tested positive across Mumbai.

India Post Mumbai has put together Supporting Officials with Friendship and Treatment (SOFT) teams that are tasked with providing immediate support to infected officials by getting them admitted to hospitals, taking care of their families and supplying groceries, vegetables and medicines while they are quarantined.

A special focus is on the men and women who have worked tirelessly during the past few months delivering medical equipment, personal protective equipment kits and agricultural commodities across the city and suburbs, along with ensuring food packets reached migrant workers when they needed it the most. “We started doing this about two months ago on realising this had come to our doorstep as well,” said Swati Pandey, Postmaster General, Mumbai.

The department’s teams liaison with ward officers, local corporators and members of Parliament to get things moving in terms of testing and hospital admission, she said. “We have ensured that all our symptomatic staff have not had to struggle with identifying hospitals and available beds.”

While one team member looks after the hospitalisation, another takes charge of the patient’s family’s needs. “We ensure that there is proper handholding. Both the patient and his family’s mental health and well being are kept in mind,” said Ms. Pandey, who, along with other officers, speaks to them directly.

Of the nearly 40 employees who tested positive, 29 are from the Mumbai circle while the others are part of airmail sorting and other units.

Across the State, 74 employees have tested positive, seven of whom have died. All of these employees have been on the frontline during the lockdown, delivering essential supplies. Families of the deceased will receive ₹10 lakh each under a government of India scheme.

“They need to feel emboldened. Even after they are back home, we help them with their needs,” said Ms. Pandey. The help was not a form of charity, which can become a habit, she said. “Most of those who have recovered have returned the money that was spent.”

As Unlock 1 is opening up the city, the Postmaster General, Mumbai, has also made a request that postmen be allowed to use the local trains as they too are essential service personnel. Though not on the State government list, the department is hopeful its demand will be met and a backlog of letters and parcels can be delivered.