38 soldiers of the Austrian Armed Forces have been on a corona mission in Styria since Monday. The soldiers are supporting the district administrative authorities of the province of Styria and Graz City Council.
Their task is to provide personnel support in carrying out surveys on the occurrence of the disease in suspected case and contact tracing management. The assignment will last indefinitely. “The province of Styria has requested support from the Austrian Armed Forces due to the rising number of infections and the resulting overload of resources. Our soldiers were quickly on the scene and provided support where it was most urgently needed. In times of crisis, cohesion between civilian and state authorities is essential and more important than ever before. I wish the soldiers every success and good luck for this mission, stay healthy,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. The deployed soldiers are working in three shifts of 12 people each. Prior to the deployment, the soldiers from the Styrian military command and the military police were trained by the relevant authorities on the procedure. The investigations for the implementation of the so-called “contact tracing” are largely carried out via telephone surveys. This involves contacting Covid-19 patients who have tested positive by phone and asking specific questions to determine their state of health and movement profile. As part of this environmental investigation, people who have had contact with a sick person (or a suspected infectious case) and could be infected are documented.
