[En continu] WHO recommends a third treatment against Covid-19, under conditions

The essential

At the start of the morning, 1-2 important news from the day before. Do not touch what is just below, it is a small painting.

■ Cuba will reopen bars and restaurants, closed since January

Cuba’s bars and restaurants, closed since January due to the coronavirus, will gradually reopen from Friday in much of the country, authorities said. They highlight the good progress of the vaccination campaign.

This reopening of 533 public and private establishments responds to the “successful vaccination process” on the island, the Minister of Commerce, Betsy Diaz, explained on television. The idea is to “begin the reopening of gastronomic services gradually” in eight of the 15 Cuban provinces, said the governor of Havana, Reynaldo Garcia Zapata.

“It’s no secret that we need the reopening and economic recovery.” Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis since 1993, due to the absence of tourists and the strengthening of the American embargo.

■ WHO recommends antibodies to Regeneron, but only in certain cases

The World Health Organization officially recommended on Friday a third treatment against Covid-19, Regeneron’s synthetic antibodies, but only in certain specific cases.

According to an opinion of WHO experts published in the medical journal The BMJ, this treatment is recommended on the one hand in “patients with non-severe forms of Covid who are at high risk of hospitalization”, such as the elderly or those whose immune system is weakened (by cancer or after a organ transplant, for example). On the other hand, the treatment is recommended in patients with “severe or critical form and who are seronegative, that is to say who have not developed their own antibody response” despite the infection.

“For all other types of Covid-19 patients, the benefits of this antibody treatment are unlikely to be significant,” writes The BMJ in the press release accompanying this notice.

“Given the high cost and low availability of this treatment, (the international drug purchasing agency) Unitaid is negotiating with the Roche laboratory […] to achieve lower prices and equitable distribution across all regions, especially low and middle income countries, ”the WHO said in a separate statement.

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