Air ambulances bringing patients back from the Balkans

Tuesday, 31 August 2021 04:12

The Rega air ambulance service is busy bringing back Swiss nationals from Kosovo suffering from severe Covid symptoms.

There were 21 flights from Pristina in August alone according to the Blick newspaper. Rega is not releasing information.

The incoming patients are causing a problem here for an already strained health system.

There are also regular flights from North Macedonia, Serbia and Italy.

Despite the regular flights – there are still several Swiss patients being treated in the Balkans.

The vast majority of returning patients have not been vaccinated and the vaccination rate in the Balkans is only around 10% - compared to over 50% here.

More from Bitesize News

Billions of dollars of smuggled gold in Switzerland

Switzerland is a major recipient of smuggled gold from Africa.
Man killed by misfired ceremonial cannon

A man was killed in canton Valais yesterday when a ceremonial cannon misfired.
Air ambulance closes A1

The air ambulance had to land on the A1 autoroute yesterday morning after a serious accident on the Coppet exit.
Preparations for autoroute jet landing

The air force is preparing to land a jet fighter on a section of autoroute next week.
French customs list haul from Switzerland

French customs officials have released details of the illegal goods they’ve intercepted entering the country from Switzerland last year.
Campaign to fight fake festival tickets

The summer music season is coming up – and festival organisers are warning about the dangers of fake tickets.