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Civil protection is also used in the second wave of coronavirus. At its meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Council decided to give the cantons a maximum of 500,000 working days to deal with the crisis.
The Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports (VBS) announced this Wednesday that more and more institutions of the health system have requested support for civil protection in their cantons. Given the spread of the pandemic, many facilities threatened to reach their capacity limits.
National contingent request
Therefore, the cantons have approached the federal government with a request for a national civil defense force. This is because the Federal Council can summon those who are obliged to provide protection in the event of disasters and emergencies affecting several cantons or the whole of Switzerland.
In such a crisis, civil defense represents a “decisive and indispensable instrument,” he said. Because it can relieve nurses affected by corona cases and increase contact tracing and testing.
A civil protection officer measures fever in mid-March and performs triage at the entrance to the Moncucco hospital in Lugano. (File image)
Photo: Alessandro Crinari (Keystone)
But the Civil Guards could also provide important help with transportation, establishing and operating reception points in hospitals, supporting crisis teams or operating hotlines. Through the national quota, the resources available throughout Switzerland could be exhausted and distributed among the cantons.
The cantons decide for themselves
The cantons themselves decide on a deployment and deployments as needed and necessary. Civil guards could only be used if other means were insufficient or if the operation was urgent, he said.
The federal government compensates the cantons with 27.50 Swiss francs per working day. The Federal Council estimates the costs at a maximum of 13.75 million Swiss francs. The duration of the assignment was established from Wednesday (November 18) to March 31.
During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, the Federal Council provided the cantons with civil protection contingents. Around 24,000 members of civil protection provided around 300,000 days of service in the 26 cantons from mid-February to the end of June. In April, at the height of the operation, around 5,000 civil defense members were on duty each week.
Embassy adoption on army deployment
At the same time, the Federal Council carried the message about the army’s assistance service in the Corona crisis, as announced by the DDPS. The government decided in early November to support the health system with up to 2,500 military personnel.
The cost of the implementation is not yet known. The additional service days could probably be absorbed within VBS’s budget, he said. Otherwise, the DDPS would have to request a complementary credit.
Since the number of soldiers exceeds 2,000 and lasts more than three weeks, the Federal Assembly has to approve the deployment. Parliament will decide on the helpdesk in the winter session, he said.
