Swiss army reservists have been called up once again to help do battle against one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Europe, AFP reported.

“This is a new effort which is being asked of you. The army has been requested to help” combat the virus, Lieutenant-Colonel Raul Barca told about 100 freshly-mobilised reservists, all wearing facemasks.

Small groups of men and women from the “Hospital 2 Battalion”, some carrying rifles on their shoulders, arrived in military trucks on Sunday at the Moudon military base in the Vaud region of western Switzerland.

All of them had received a call or text message from the army on Friday giving them 48 hours' notice to report for a deployment that could last until the end of March.

Their work on the Covid front line is set to start on Tuesday.