MaltaPost has extended opening hours in some localities to tackle long queues generated by people collecting their government-issued coronavirus vouchers.

Hundreds of people have been gathering in the sweltering heat outside post offices across the island including St Paul's Bay, Pieta and Birkirkara.

A MaltaPost spokesperson blamed the queues on "the unprecedented amount of undelivered registered mail" on the island due to free €100 vouchers issued by the government to help kickstart the economy. 

He said: "As people now head to their post office to pick up the vouchers – because they were not home then they were delivered – they are causing queues. 

"This has especially happened in areas with a high concentration of third-country nationals that include St Paul’s Bay, Buġibba and Qawra,” he said.

MaltaPost has extended opening hours in two post offices - Triq San Pawl, St Paul’s Bay, and Triq id-Dolmen, Buġibba. People will be able to collect vouchers between 4 and 7pm as well as during the usual morning hours (8am to 1pm).

“We carried out one of the largest ever delivery of registered mail – delivering over 400,000 vouchers in four weeks,” the spokesperson said adding that the vast majority of the vouchers have now been delivered.

Queues outside St Paul's Bay MaltaPost office on Monday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

He said staff was working at full capacity to cope with the increased workload. 

“Let’s also keep in mind that because of the coronavirus pandemic we cannot allow people to crowd in the offices so they have the queue outside,” he said. 

However concerns have been raised about the safety of people standing in intense August heat.

One elderly woman, queuing outside the St Paul’s Bay post office on Monday morning woman said she had to stand for hours to collect her pension cheque. She questioned why the post office did not create separate queues for normal collection of mail and parcels and another for the collection of vouchers. 

A 74-year-old British man from Qawra said that for three days he had attempted to go to the post office to collect a parcel that contained medicine for him and his wife.

“Each time I went there and saw the long queues, I gave up since I worried I would not take the heat due to my health,” he said. He eventually was told he could collect his vouchers from the Buġibba office. 

The General Workers' Union pensioners branch said shops and essential services should introduce measures to allow senior citizens and vulnerable people to avoid waiting in line. It suggested extending the validity of government vouchers to beyond the end of September.  

Maltese residents are being given €100 worth of vouchers to spend on shops, restaurants or hotels, as part of a government initiative to kickstart the pandemic-struck local economy.