Since October 21, soldiers and civilian staff have been supporting the Covid-19 measures of the district authorities in addition to the health checks at the borders. Due to the sharp rise in the number of infected people, more personnel have also been requested from the Austrian Armed Forces for contact tracing. In some cases, civilian members of the armed forces are also deployed.
Until Friday, November 13, 48 members of the army supported the Carinthian district authorities. These contact tracers were joined by another 34 on Monday, November 16. 14 of them are deployed at the Klagenfurt Hospital for administrative activities. As the tracing of Covid contact persons is becoming increasingly extensive and difficult, the health authorities are constantly requesting more contact tracers. A further 35 soldiers will therefore reinforce these activities from Friday. In total, around 320 soldiers and armed forces personnel will be deployed in Carinthia from the end of this week. Of these, almost 200 are involved in security police assistance operations and health management at the Carinthian state border and 117 members of the armed forces are involved in contact tracing. At the same time as reported 80 telecommunicators from Villach, including conscripts, have been supporting the contact management center in Linz, Upper Austria, since last weekend. Working in shifts, they are helping with contact tracing almost around the clock. It is not yet clear how long the deployment will last.
