Australia Post has hit a temporary pause on e-commerce pick-ups in Melbourne for five days as the city’s parcel volume hits record levels.

Between Friday 1 October and Wednesday 6 October, retailers in Greater Melbourne Metro will not have any new e-commerce purchases collected.

“With parcel volumes at Christmas levels, our network continues to be under increased pressure, and is amplified in Victoria where we continue to manage a heavily reduced workforce due to the impact of the Delta strain,” the business said.

“The safety of our people is our highest priority, one which we will not compromise on.”

According to Australia Post, deliveries will continue, including on weekends, and current parcels will continue to be processed in order to make way for new collections after the five-day lock-out.

The business said it has close to 200 people in self isolation in Melbourne, which played a large part in this decision.

This is the second time this month that Australia Post has had to pause parcel collections, having halted all e-commerce collections in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT earlier this month due to seeing 500 of its staff enter isolation and stretched resources.