Coronavirus in Belgium: the impact on our services

In summary: the current state of our services

Belgium
Europe & International

We are doing everything we can to deliver both mail (newspapers, magazines, pension payments, registered mail, letters, etc.) and parcels as normally as possible. Due to the large rush of the holiday season and the ongoing safety measures, some parcels may take longer to arrive than normal. Check on the delivery status of your parcel by using our Track & Trace service. Unfortunately, our customer service is unable to provide you with additional information about the delivery status.

You can find the opening hours of our details Post Offices on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt

End-of-year season: please note that our Post offices are closed on 24/12 in the afternoon and on 25/12, 26/12, 31/12, 01/01 and 02/02 the whole day.

Contact center for Parcels and Mail:

Residentials: our contact center is open from 8 am until 12:30 and from 1 pm until 6 pm from Monday to Friday, and on Saturday from 9 am until 1 pm.

Business: our contact center is open from 8 am until 12:30 and from 1 pm until 5:30 pm from Monday to Friday. It's closed on Saturday.

All Post Points and Parcel Points (previously called kariboo!) are open in accordance with the opening hours of the shops in which they are located. If a Post Point or Parcel Point has to close, or if it can no longer handle parcels, we will deliver the parcel to a delivery point that is open. See which Post Point and Parcel Point are open.

All Parcel Lockers are in operation.

For many countries it’s still possible to deliver parcels and mail but delays may occur. The number of flights and their capacity is still very limited, and we are dependent on the local situation for deliveries. That means we cannot currently guarantee delivery times for shipments to these countries. We will of course do all we can to deliver your parcels as quickly as possible.

Countries where parcels and mail can still be delivered:

Europe:
- All countries incl. Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Montenegro and Iceland
- Except: Faroe Islands
South America:
- Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Aruba, Chile, Curacao and Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana and Tobago
North America:
- Brazil, Canada, USA, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Costa Rica, Antigua, St Martin, Martinique, Cayman Islands, Panama, , Nicaragua, Salvador, Bahamas and Guadeloupe
Asia:
- China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Kazachstan, Macao, Malidives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Népal, Brunei and Uzbekistan
Oceania:
- Australia, French Polynesia and New Zealand
Middle East:
- United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Iran, Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, Palestine and Qatar
Africa:
- Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leona, Togo, Uganda, Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania (United Republic of), Chad, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Réunion, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Eritrea, Kenya, Mauritania, Senegal and Central African Republic.

It is not yet possible to send post and parcels to other countries. bpost is closely following developments and will inform you as soon as the situation changes.

Express deliveries for parcels are an exception: these can still be sent to all countries outside Europe because for this service we work with specific partners.
See the FAQ list below for more information (question “What is the current situation with national and international parcel deliveries?”).

Behind the scenes

“Mensen helpen, dat is meer dan brieven en pakjes bezorgen. Grégory doet daarom soms zijn Superman pak aan als hij gaat werken. Zo bezorgt hij naast de brieven en pakjes ook een grote glimlach aan zijn klanten.”

Grégory,
postbode in Doornik

Most recent changes

Update of 30-06-2021 17:00

As of July 1, registered mail, as well as parcels delivered against signature, will again have to be signed by the person receiving the item.

Update of 14-05-2021 17:00

As of May 15, bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 12 additional destinations, namely: Cayman Islands, Eritrea, Kenya, Mauritania, Montenegro, Palestine, Panama, Senegal, Nicaragua, Salvador, Guyana and Bahamas. Discover the complete list of countries.

Update of 11-01-2021 09:00

As of January 11, bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 13 additional destinations, namely: Népal, Martinique, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Réunion, Cap Verde, Suriname, Polynésie Française, Sint Maarten, Brunei, Mauritius, Central African Rep. The full list of countries can be found in this page.

Update of 21-12-2020 20:00

Because of a new variant of the Covid virus in the UK, many countries have closed their borders to any kind of traffic to or from the UK.

bpost continues to send parcels to the UK, although delays may occur for non-express parcels. Only shipments with the Bpack Europe Business product have been temporarily halted. We are closely following developments and will inform you as soon as the situation changes.

Update of 21-12-2020 12:00

The Netherlands are implementing stricter measures against the coronavirus until January 19, which could lead to delays. In exceptional cases, deliveries to certain Pick-up points aren’t currently possible due to temporary closure. Please contact the sender for more information. Unfortunately, our customer service cannot provide you with additional information.

Update of 22-10-2020 17:00

As of October 30, bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 21 additional destinations, namely: Angola, Armenia, Aruba, Bermuda, Chad, Chile, Costa Rica, Curacao, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Niger, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania (United Republic of), Trinidad and Tobago, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The full list of countries can be found in this page.

Update of 08-10-2020 16:00

As of Friday 9 October bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 23 additional destinations, namely: Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Argentina, Colombia, Barbados and Jamaica.

Update of 28-08-2020 08:00

As of August 28 bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 30 additional destinations, namely: Afghanistan, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gambia, Ghana, Iran, Israel, Kazachstan, Liberia, Macao, Malidives,Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leona, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Update of 11-08-2020 16:30

Our contact center for Parcels is open from 8 am until 12:30 and from 1 pm until 5 pm from Monday to Friday, and it closes on Saturdays.
Our contact center for Mail is open from 8 am until 5 pm from Monday to Friday.

Update of 14-07-2020 10:30

As of July 15, bpost will resume sending mail and parcels to 26 additional destinations, namely: Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Morocco, South Africa, Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Belarus.

Update of 27-05-2020 10:30

After the United States, China, Russia, Brazil and Canada, as of Wednesday 20 May we can once again deliver parcels to certain important Asian countries. It is now possible to send parcels to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

Because the number of flights remains limited, and we are dependent on the local situation for delivery, we are currently unable to guarantee delivery times for destinations outside Europe. Of course, we are doing all we can to deliver your parcels as quickly as possible. bpost is closely monitoring the situation and will inform you as soon as there are changes, via the coronavirus information page.

More updates

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What does your question concern?

Receiving parcels
Sending parcels
Receiving post
Sending post

Are Post offices, Post points and Parcel Points (previously called kariboo!) open? Post Offices remain open from Monday to Friday until 5 p.m., but they will be closed from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Some of them will also close on Saturdays, you can find more details on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt. Post Points and Parcel Points (previously called kariboo!) will be open in accordance with the opening hours of the shops in which they are located. Our automated parcel lockers remain for the most part in operation. We are closely monitoring the situation of our collection points. If your parcel is to be delivered to a point that is closed, we will do all we can to deliver it to a collection point that is open. We will inform you of this via email and/or on our Track & Trace website and in the My bpost app. To see which collection points are open, please check https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt.

I am expecting a parcel that is to be delivered to a Post Office, Post Point or Parcel Point (previously called kariboo!). Can I still collect it? Yes. You can still collect your parcel from Post Offices, Post Points and Parcel Points. Post Offices remain open from Monday to Friday until 5 p.m., but they will be closed from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Some of them will also close on Saturdays, you can find more details on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt. The opening hours of post points and parcel points depend on the shops in which they are located, but newsagents remain open. We are closely monitoring the situation of our collection points. If your parcel is to be delivered to a location that is closed, we will do all we can to deliver it to a collection point that is open. To see which collection points are open and when, please check https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt. Our automated parcel lockers remain in operation.

Will newspapers, magazines, pensions, registered mail, letters and parcels still be delivered? Yes. We are making every effort to deliver post (newspapers, magazines, pensions, registered mail, letters etc) and parcels as normal, but take into account possible delays.

My parcel is to be delivered to a collection point that is now closed. What will happen to it? We will deliver your parcel to a collection point that is open. We will inform you of this via email and/or on our Track & Trace website and in the My bpost app.

Will my delivery preferences still apply? Yes, we will continue as far as possible to respect your delivery preferences: in a safe place, with a neighbour, at a collection point (post office, post point or parcel point) or in a parcel locker. If you have chosen delivery to a collection point that is closed, or that can no longer handle parcels, we will deliver it to your home.

When will my parcel be delivered? We are currently treating millions of parcels per week. Given the current circumstances of high volume, the additional COVID19 safety measures and the decreased available staff, we can unfortunately not make estimates on the delivery date.
In the My bpost or on our Track & Trace the most recent available status is given. Our customer care center cannot give any additional information since they use the same software systems. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

Why didn't the postman ring the doorbell? Given the security measures currently in place, the postman may deliver the parcel immediately to your mailbox or to a safe place, such as a garden shed. If the postman has delivered your parcel to a safe place, he will always leave a note in your mailbox to tell you where the package was dropped off.

Why is my recently ordered parcel already distributed and my older one not yet delivered? Is it lost? Due to the high parcel volumes and the applicable safety measures there is a delay in the distribution of the parcels. It could be that a recently ordered parcel might arrive faster than less recently ordered parcel. So don’t worry if your parcel hasn’t arrived yet, it is not lost. Know that we are doing everything we can to deliver your parcels as soon as possible while assuring our people remain safe. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

What precautions are in place for bpost employees? As well as the measures that have been in force for a number of weeks, we have also taken additional measures to prevent the spread of the virus. These include:

Reiterating basic hygiene procedures: regular, careful handwashing, coughing and sneezing into a disposable tissue or into an elbow, minimising close contact and calling a doctor if multiple symptoms appear.
Teleworking.
Rearranging shared spaces at all bpost workplaces to ensure a minimum distance of 1,5m between people (cafeterias, meeting rooms, work posts etc).

Is it still safe for me to receive parcels and mail from the mailman? Several precautionary measures are taken by bpost to ensure the safety of each employee and client:

In the bpost offices & sorting center, the rules of social distancing (1,5 meters) are in effect. Hydroalcoholic gels are available and shared equipment is frequently cleaned.

Can I still submit parcels to bpost? Yes, you can still submit parcels at our post offices, post points and (Hyper) Masspost Center(s). If one of these points is closed, or can no longer deliver parcels, this will be indicated on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt.

Do (Hyper) MassPost centers remain open? Yes, all of our (Hyper) MassPost centers are currently open during their normal business hours for customers with mail and parcels. On https://www.bpost2.be/locations/business/fr/both.php you’ll find the addresses of the (Hyper)MassPost centers.

Will bpost still collect my parcels through the Collect service? The service is guaranteed as much as possible. It might be possible that the time of collection differs from the contractual time. In order to facilitate compliance with government-imposed measures when collecting mail, we ask you to:

deposit your mail in a visible and easily accessible way without the mailman having to register, call or go to another address
place your shipments as close to your front door as possible
place your barcode to your main entrance as far as possible so that it can be scanned by our mailman. If the barcode is not accessible, it will not be possible to provide evidence that the mailman came during this period of seclusion.

Are Post Offices, Post Points and Parcel Points (previously called kariboo!) open? Can I still send parcels to a collection point? Post Offices remain open from Monday to Friday until 5 p.m., but they will be closed from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Some of them will also close on Saturdays, you can find more details on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt. Post Points and Parcel Points will be open in accordance with the opening hours of the shops in which they are located. Our automated parcel lockers remain in operation. We are closely monitoring the situation of our collection points. If your parcel is to be delivered to a point that is closed, we will do all we can to deliver it to a collection point that is open. We will inform the recipient of this via email and/or on our Track & Trace website and in the My bpost app. To see which collection points are open, please check https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt.

Will delivery preferences be respected? Yes, we will continue as far as possible to respect customers’ delivery preferences: in a safe place, with a neighbour, at a collection point, or directly to a collection point. If the customer has chosen delivery to a collection point that is closed, or that can no longer handle parcels, we will deliver it to their home.

Do you still operate Cash-on-Delivery (also known as delivery against payment or payment on delivery)? Can I request a second presentation? Yes. Parcels for which the addressee pays the shipping costs at the point of delivery will still be delivered. In some cases, we cannot offer this service at home. In that case, we will let the recipient know that they can collect their parcel from a post office. It is temporarily not possible to request a second presentation of this type of parcels.

Why do I need to pick up my Cash-on-Delivery parcel (also known as delivery against payment or payment on delivery) in a Post office or Post point instead of it being delivered at my address? For safety reasons for our mailmen, parcels with cash-on-delivery are temporarily directly delivered to a Post office or Post Point.

What happens to the parcel if the recipient is not in? If a customer is not home at the point of delivery, the mail carrier will attempt to leave the parcel in a safe place or with a neighbour. If this is not possible, the parcel will be available from the nearest available collection point or Parcel Locker. If the customer has stated delivery preferences, we will as far as possible deliver according to those preferences: in a safe place, with a neighbour, at a collection point, or directly to a collection point. This applies to week day deliveries as well as Saturdays deliveries.

Are the (Hyper) Masspost Centers still open? Yes, all (Hyper) MassPost centers are currently open during their normal business hours for customers with mail and parcels. On https://www.bpost2.be/locations/business/fr/both.php you’ll find the addresses of the (Hyper)MassPost centers.

How will Covid-19 affect the level of service provision? We are doing all we can to continue our logistics services and thereby contribute to the functioning of society. While the virus is not spread via parcels, our mail carriers will still be extra alert to all hygiene measures.

Are Post Offices, Post Points and Parcel Points (previously called kariboo!) open? Yes. Post Offices remain open from Monday to Friday until 5 p.m., but they will be closed from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Some of them will also close on Saturdays, you can find more details on https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt. Post Points and Parcel Points will be open in accordance with the opening hours of the shops in which they are located. To see which collection points are open, please check https://www.bpost.be/site/nl/zoek-bpost-uw-buurt.

Can I leave my post at a post office? To minimise the risks, we encourage everyone to limit their visits to post offices to urgent reasons and use the available alternatives according to their needs: red post boxes for prepaid post, parcel lockers, and cash machines for cash withdrawals and deposits.

Will newspapers, magazines, pensions, letters and registered mail still be delivered? Yes. We are making every effort to deliver newspapers, magazines, pensions, letters and registered mail as normal. But take into account possible delays.

My company must temporarily close, how can I receive my mail? You have the possibility of requesting a transfer of your mail or having your mail kept at the post office, for a temporary period. Your request can be made directly online.

‘Temporary conservation of mail’: we keep your mail in the post office of your choice during the closure of your business - We will deliver all of your mail in one package when you return. This service may be subscribed from 1 week up to 6 weeks, the choice is yours. You can subscribe to the service via the following link: https://www.bpost.be/fr/transferer-conserver-courrier-professionnel

'Temporary transfer service': we temporarily transfer your mail from your current address to a new address. This service may be subscribed from 2 weeks up to 3 months, the choice is yours. You can subscribe to the service via the following link: https://www.bpost.be/fr/transferer-conserver-courrier-professionnel

You will find the prices for these services below: https://www.bpost.be/site/fr/solutions-professionnelles/consultez-nos-tarifs-professionnels#brieven

For security reasons, if you request a contract online, you will be asked to validate it with a unique code which is sent to the old or the new/temporary address (asked online during the creation of the contract). Without this activation code, you cannot pay for your contract and therefore cannot finalize the contract. Due to the current situation, you have the possibility to directly call our customer service in order to claim this activation code, and avoid losing a few days before the activation of your contract.

Reiterating basic hygiene procedures: regular, careful handwashing, coughing and sneezing into a disposable tissue or into an elbow, minimising close contact and calling a doctor if multiple symptoms appear.
Teleworking.
Rearranging shared spaces at all bpost workplaces to ensure a minimum distance of 1,5m between people (cafeterias, meeting rooms, work posts etc).

Are the (Hyper) Masspost Centers still open? All our (Hyper)MassPost centers are currently open during their normal business hours for customers with mail and parcels. On https://www.bpost2.be/locations/business/fr/both.php you’ll find the addresses of the (Hyper)MassPost centers.

deposit your mail in a visible and easily accessible way without the mailman having to register, call or go to another address
place your shipments as close to your front door as possible
place your barcode to your main entrance as far as possible so that it can be scanned by our postman. If the barcode is not accessible, it will not be possible to provide evidence that the postman came during this period of seclusion.

How can I inform bpost that it is not necessary to collect my post? If you want to inform your mail carrier that they needn’t collect your post, fill in the ‘Temporary Stop Holidays’ (TSH) form at http://bpost2.be/collect_send_stamp/nl.

Please submit your request 4 working days before the start of the period.
In order to extend your request, it is necessary to fill out the same form again. You can submit several requests for a total and annual count of a maximum of 8 weeks of suspension of collection of your mail.

Is the First Service still in operation? The First Service is operational until further notice. We ask you, as much as possible, and as the first and most effective measure, to empty your mailbox daily.

How will my incoming First Service post be managed if my company is closed? If your company usually receives its mail before 9 am ('First Service'), we ask you to empty your mailbox daily so that the postman can easily deliver your mail. If your company closes in the next few days or if you fear your mailbox will be filled quickly, we invite you to subscribe to the service:

‘Temporary conservation of mail’: we keep your mail in the post office of your choice during the closure of your business - We will deliver all of your mail in one package when you return. This service may be subscribed from 1 week up to 6 weeks, the choice is yours. You can subscribe to the service via the following link: https://dmm.bpost.be/fr/b2b/storage/home

'Temporary transfer service': we temporarily transfer your mail from your current address to a new address. This service may be subscribed from 2 weeks up to 3 months, the choice is yours. You can subscribe to the service via the following link: https://dmm.bpost.be/fr/b2b/mails/home

How will Covid-19 affect the level of service provision? During this coronavirus crisis, we are doing all we can to continue our logistics services and thereby contribute to the functioning of society. We are also striving to create the best working conditions to protect the health and safety of all our employees.

Given the possible increase in the number of parcels, does bpost have sufficient capacity to process and deliver the post? We remain committed to our duty of providing a complete postal service to the best of our abilities, with the support and engagement of our thousands of staff on the street, in sorting centres, in post office and elsewhere. Just like all postal operators around the world, bpost is feeling the consequences of this extraordinary situation on its activities. Every day we adapt our measures to fulfil the expectations of our customers and at the same time protect the health and safety of our staff.

Niet alle helden dragen capes

Dankzij de Gezichten van bpost blijven brieven en pakketjes overal hun weg vinden. Dankzij hun inzet en doorzettingsvermogen blijven we verbonden met elkaar. En dat wordt door iedereen gewaardeerd.