Swiss army back on Covid front line

Lt Col Raul Barca says army has been requested to help combat the virus

SWITZERLAND:

Swiss army reservists have been called up once again to help do battle against one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Europe.

"This is a new effort which is being asked of you. The army has been requested to help" combat the virus, Lieutenant-Colonel Raul Barca told about 100 freshly-mobilised reservists, all wearing facemasks.

Small groups of men and women from the "Hospital 2 Battalion", some carrying rifles on their shoulders, arrived in military trucks on Sunday at the Moudon military base in the Vaud region of western Switzerland.

All of them had received a call or text message from the army on Friday giving them 48 hours' notice to report for a deployment that could last until the end of March.

Their work on the Covid front line is set to start on Tuesday.

During the first wave of the pandemic, which hit Europe in the spring, the Swiss army was called in to help out the country's 26 regional cantons.

However, this time, "the situation is different... the hospital staff are more affected, tired", Barca told the troops on the parade ground.

In total, more than 200 reservists — who underwent four months of health training — reported for duty on Sunday to support Swiss hospitals which are saturated with the arrival of new Covid-19 patients.