Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss army ends coronavirus deployment

army
Around 6,000 soldiers were deployed to support health personnel, police and border guards. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

The military has officially ended its involvement in relief measures associated with the coronavirus pandemic after 107 days on duty.  

On Tuesday, the last 50 military personnel still serving in the CORONA 20 taskforce – which supports border control and customs operations – will be released from their duties. This marks the official end of the support of the Swiss Armed Forces, ordered by the governing Federal Council on March 16.  

Approximately 6,000 military personnel were temporarily deployed across the country and carried out more than 300 missions at the request of the cantons. These included military health workers, as well as regular army soldiers who assisted cantonal police forces and border guards. In total, those deployed completed some 320,000 days of service.  

In addition to the army, around 24,000 men and women from the civil defence force participated in the pandemic response. They assisted medical and nursing staff in hospitals and took on tasks including triage, cleaning and disinfection work, and the provision of protective equipment.  

They also set up emergency hospitals, consultation centres and telephone hotlines for the population, and provided transportation for people and equipment. 

The civil defence force was especially active in densely populated cantons that were seriously affected by the coronavirus, namely the canton of Vaud (about 70,000 service days), Geneva (40,000), Zurich (32,000) and Ticino (12,000). In April, at the height of the mission, some 5,000 civil defence personnel were deployed each week. 

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR