Yesterday, Tuesday, the Federal Council decided that the cantons can apply for support from the army. To do this, however, the criteria of subsidiarity must be met. In other words, the army only dies when the canton in question has exhausted all civilian resources.

The two largest cantons in German-speaking Switzerland have now given the all-clear. Neither Zurich nor Bern are currently dependent on support.

“It is to be welcomed that the Federal Council is offering subsidiary help,” writes Gundekar Giebel, media spokesman for the Bern Health Directorate, on request. But the canton is currently not planning a request for such help.

“25 percent of the hospital’s intensive care capacities are occupied by Covid 19 cases,” said Giebel. Some hospitals would switch to foregoing planning in order to free up resources.

The postponement of interventions is currently regulated at hospital level. Central planning by the canton is not yet necessary. “However, the situation can change at any time. The canton has done the necessary preparatory work, ”Giebel concluded.

It sounds similar from the Zurich health department: “There are no plans to apply for support from the Swiss Army,” writes media spokesman Jérôme Weber. In terms of occupancy, the situation has not changed significantly since last week.

A high occupancy rate in the hospitals is common at this time of year. Despite the very high number of infections, the number of patients with the coronavirus in hospitals is still far from the highs of the second wave – “Thanks to vaccination”. “It is becoming apparent, however, that interventions that are not necessary will have to be postponed to a greater extent,” said Weber. This is because the epidemiological situation is likely to worsen until Christmas.

The canton’s health system is currently in a position to deal with the additional burden of the coronavirus. One is also prepared for a further increase in Covid patients. In Zurich, too, the necessary resources are freed up – by postponing non-urgent treatments – individually by each hospital.

The presentation of the health department is contrasted with the testimony of Peter Steiger, deputy director of the Institute for Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital Zurich. “Like all other hospitals, we were also fully booked,” said Steiger a week ago. He spoke of an occupancy of 98 percent.

There was simply no bed available for patients going to the intensive care unit. It was also impossible to transfer the patient to another hospital away from home. “It was really bad,” said Steiger.