2 . For many people, COVID-19 doesn’t end with a negative test. Weeks or months after traces of the virus disappear from noses and throats, symptoms can last long.

The symptoms of the long COVID are wide-ranging. Some people struggle with extreme tiredness that influences their daily lives.     1     .

The symptoms make it hard to determine who’s at high risk for long-term health problems.Some post-COVID conditions may still exist from virus-caused damage.     2     . The hiding virus may also help symptoms to last long.

There are some broad indications about who’s at risk. Studies suggest that women are more likely than men to have long-existing symptoms. COVID-19 patients with more than five symptoms in the first week of infection may be more likely to develop long COVID.     3     , though results

    4     . The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists more than 30 health problems, including cancer and lung disease, which raise the risk. Many researchers assume that risk factors may be the same for long COVID.     5     . More research will be needed when it comes to long COVID.

Using health records and exams, and knowledge of certain small diseases with symptoms similar to long COVID, experts are on the hunt for those risk factors.

3 . The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world. Since vaccinations are still an important tool to help build protection, more countries in Europe are taking measures to get their citizens vaccinated.

Greece

It’s the first country in the European Union to fine unvaccinated people. Those who have not gotten their first shot by Jan. 16, 2022 will face a monthly fine of100 euros. The money goes to fund hospital services. Since November, the unvaccinated have been banned from going to many indoor places such as museums, theaters and gyms.

Germany

On Dec.2, Germany cried out a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated. Unvaccinated people will be banned from going to all but the most necessary businesses such as supermarkets and drugstores Unvaccinated people can only meet up with two people from another household.

Austria

In Austria unvaccinated people aged 12 and older have been under a lockdown since Nov.15. They can only leave home for work, medical reasons or to get groceries. If anyone goes against the rule, he or she will be fined up to 500 euros.

Italy

Unvaccinated people are banned from eating out as well as from attending shows, sports events and public ceremonies. The rule came into effect on Dec. 6 and will last until Jan. 15. But those who have a negative COVID-19 test result will be allowed to go to work.

10 . As giant panda Tian Bao walked toward the feast placed in his enclosure (围场) on Thursday at Pairi Daiza zoo in Belgium, fans waiting outside began to sing Happy Birthday in Dutch and French.

One of the fans, Nora Verhoeyen, said she traveled there for the birthday party from the city of Oudenaarde, transferring between three trains in the process. Verhoeyen has visited Tian Bao and four other giant pandas at the zoo many times. She also came after Tian Bao was born on June 2, 2016—the first giant panda baby born in Belgium.

“I like pandas. I like Tian Bao very much,” she mentioned. She said she cried a year ago, knowing that Tian Bao would go to China later last year. Under the loan agreement with the Chinese government, giant panda babies born outside China to parents loaned from China belong to China and should go back by the age of four to join the breeding program as part of the conservation of the species.

“Tian Bao’s departure for China has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He is now expected to go to China at the beginning of next year,” according to the zoo’s founder and president, Eric Domb.

Giant panda keeper Robin Bouttefeux said that he prepared bamboo shoots, carrots and a cake made of soybeans, rice and corn for Tian Bao’s birthday. He said that every visitor loves Tian Bao. “He is my best friend,” he added. Bouttefeux, who has held the post for eight years, said that taking care of five giant pandas is a demanding job. “But it’s a nice job working with pandas every day,” he said.

Tian Bao weighed only 171 grams when he was born. He weighed 100 kilograms on Thursday. Domb said that everyone will be sad when Tian Bao leaves next year. But he and his colleagues also know that it is beneficial. Giant pandas are solitary (独立的) animals. Mothers and babies do not stay together for long in the wild. “If they were kept together beyond the point when a child is self-sufficient (自立的), it would eventually cause aggression”, according to a giant panda researcher, Elizabeth Dunn.