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CLEVELAND (WJW) — Marketing mail destined for U.S. Postal Service customers in Northeast Ohio last month was diverted to and held at a USPS facility in Pittsburgh. 

A Postal Service spokesperson said the mail was diverted as the agency “flexed” its network during the holiday rush, when major backlogs in the system delayed mail and package delivery by weeks in the Cleveland area. 

“The Pittsburgh plant is dispatching the mail to Cleveland for processing and delivery. Normal processing will return by the end of the week,” USPS spokesperson Naddia Dhalai said in a statement. 

Dhalai previously cited unprecedented demand and staffing shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic as factors in the widespread mail delays. 

Pictures show mountains of mail not getting delivered

She said about 17,000 Postal Service employees are currently out of work nationwide due to the pandemic. 

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