CHILEAN municipalities are moving ahead of the government on coronavirus, buying in a Cuban medicine that has been successful in treating infections in China and Spain.

Daniel Jadue, mayor of Recoleta in Santiago province, said the People’s Pharmacies initiative, which provides drugs at lower prices than private chemists, had begun import procedures for Interferon alpha-2b, a Cuban product that has been used to effectively cure more than 1,500 Covid-19 sufferers. 

Mr Jadue set up the People’s Pharmacies project in 2015 and it has since spread to over 100 municipalities across Chile. Interferons are signalling proteins that boost the immune system.

Cuba, like China, has taken a global lead in responding to the escalating pandemic, earning praise for allowing a British cruise ship with some infected passengers on board to dock today after it had been denied anchor at other Caribbean ports.

Havana said it took the decision because healthcare was a human right and “due to the urgency of the situation and the risk to the lives of sick people.” It will arrange the repatriation of the British citizens.

And today, the health minister of the northern Italian region of Lombardy, Giulio Gallera, appealed to Cuba, Venezuela and China for medical personnel to assist in handling the crisis.

Over a thousand prisoners could be on the loose in Brazil after a mass prison break in response to coronavirus restrictions.

The low-security prisoners were allowed temporary release, but this was cancelled for fear that they could catch the virus and then infect other inmates on their return.