The Federal Council (Government) of Switzerland decided to attract 2.5 thousand military to help the cantons in caring for patients with COVID-19. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a statement from the authorities.
Such measures were taken due to the large number of cases of coronavirus infection. The authorities believe that the public health authorities in the cantons may soon reach their limits.
The Federal Council will send military personnel to help organize vaccinations, transport patients and care for the sick. The decision to organize military support must be approved by the Swiss parliament.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Switzerland has recorded over a million people infected with COVID-19. More than 11 thousand people have died from the virus. Also it became known about three cases of infection with a new omicron-strain, which the WHO recognized as “causing concern.”
On November 11 in South Africa, a strain was identified under the code B.1.1.529, which was named the Greek letter omicron. The country's health minister said that the new version is easily tolerated by vaccinated patients, however, according to some reports, it can bypass the immunity of those who have recovered from other strains. The new strain has been recorded in a number of countries in Africa, Australia, Brazil, India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and several European countries. Earlier it became known that the omicron-strain was also identified in two Russians who arrived from South Africa.
