DON’T MISS
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Expat Info
Swiss news & articles
Rega forced to fly back Swiss patients who caught COVID abroad
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

Rega forced to fly back Swiss patients who caught COVID abroad

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:



Related Stories

7 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in October 20227 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in October 2022
7 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in September 20227 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in September 2022
Thousands of fraudulent COVID certificates issued in SwitzerlandThousands of fraudulent COVID certificates issued in Switzerland
What is the Geneva Convention and why does it matter?What is the Geneva Convention and why does it matter?
How someone in Switzerland can help people in Turkey and SyriaHow someone in Switzerland can help people in Turkey and Syria
7 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in November 20227 things expats in Switzerland need to know about in November 2022
Was there really a tsunami-like wave on Lake Geneva in the 6th century?Was there really a tsunami-like wave on Lake Geneva in the 6th century?
Tick season in Switzerland: What expats need to knowTick season in Switzerland: What expats need to know
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usSitemap
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
Aug 31, 2021
Jan de Boer

Editor at IamExpat Media

Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016. While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more

Around 70 Swiss patients across Europe are waiting to be transferred back to Switzerland, mainly from Kosovo and the Balkan states after a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Swiss Air-Rescue transfers COVID-19 patients from Kosovo to Switzerland

Medicall AG made the claims as the emergency services in Switzerland ferried hundreds of people from their holiday destinations across Europe back to Switzerland over the last month.

People from Switzerland who go on vacation abroad have their medical costs covered through supplemental health insurance or through accident and occupational disease insurance. Crucially, the standard of medical care where they fell ill has to be similar to Switzerland, otherwise, they have the option to be flown back for treatment.

This has meant regular flights from Kosovo and other Balkan nations, with Blick reporting that Rega Swiss Air-Rescue had flown to the Kosovan capital Pristina 21 times in August. Medicall AG estimated that around 80 percent of people waiting for repatriation flights have COVID-19.

“COVID hell” was the headline of the newspaper 20 minuten, who said that the majority of cases were coming from holiday resorts within North Macedonia and Kosovo. Blick reported that many people travelled from Switzerland to Kosovo this summer, where they were met with packed flights and buses and engaged in what the newspaper described as "excessive and unrestrained partying."

Kosovo currently has few COVID restrictions, and Blick reported that fake COVID certificates are being used to enter the country. According to Steffen Bohn, Head of Medical Assistance at Medicall AG, the tourists in these countries threaten to “overflow the barrel” of ICU beds in Kosovo.

Intensive care units in Switzerland close to full

The repatriation flights are causing concern within Swiss hospitals, as many ICU facilities remain close to capacity. The healthcare system in Thurgau has been forced to move ICU patients to neighbouring counties (cantons).

Media spokesperson for the cantonal hospital in Aarau, Isabelle Wenzinger, confirmed that "there is currently no capacity in the intensive care unit.” University Hospital Zurich said that it accepts repatriated patients, but its ICU facilities were full.

The current spike in COVID-19 cases from abroad has caused alarm among politicians, who are now pushing for a vaccination assistance program for the Balkans. National Councillor for the Social Democratic Party, Barbara Gysi, said “Switzerland should support the Kosovar state with vaccination doses,” and that repatriation must take place as quickly as possible.

By Jan de Boer