Coronaviruses (冠状病毒) are a large group of viruses that are common among animals. In rare cases, they are what scientists call zoonotic, meaning they can be passed from animals to humans.

The viruses can make people sick, usually with a upper respiratory tract (呼吸道) illness, similar to a common cold. Coronavirus symptoms (症状) include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, possibly a headache and maybe a fever, which can last for a couple of days. For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there’s a chance the virus could cause a lower, and much more serious, respiratory tract illness.

There are a handful of human coronaviruses that are known to be deadly. Middle East respiratory syndrome, also known as the MERS virus, was first reported in the Middle East in 2012 and also causes respiratory problems, but those symptoms are much more severe. Three to four out of every 10 patients infected with MERS died. Severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, is the other coronavirus that can cause more severe symptoms. Depending on the patient’s age, the death rate with SARS ranged from 0-50% of the cases. The novel coronavirus is currently thought to be more   mild than SARS and MERS and takes longer to develop symptoms.

There is no vaccine (疫苗) to protect against this family of viruses, at least not yet. You may be able to reduce your risk of infection by avoiding people who are sick. Try to avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Wash your hands often with soap and water and for at least 20 seconds. Awareness is key. If you are sick and have reason to believe it may be the novel coronavirus, you should let a health care provider know and seek treatment early.

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We’ve all been there: It’s been a long week at work, so Friday night, you reward yourself by going to bed early and sleeping in. But when you wake up the next morning (or afternoon), your limbs feel like they’re filled with sand. Your brain is still lying down and you even have faint headache. If too little sleep is a problem, then why is extra sleep a terrible solution?

Actually, oversleep makes you throw off your biological clock. You might be crawling out of bed at 11 am, but your cells started using their energy cycle at seven. Oversleep isn’t just going to ruin your Saturday hike. If you’re oversleeping on the regular, you could be putting yourself at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Harvard’s massive Nurses Health Study found that people who slept 9 to 11 hours a night developed memory problems and were more likely to develop heart disease than people who slept a solid eight. It is estimated that chronic oversleep affects about 4 percent of the population. These are generally people who work odd hours, have an uncomfortable sleep situation, or a sleeping disorder.

Doctors recommend using dark curtains and artificial lights to straighten things out rather than medication or supplements for people who wake up before the suns rise or go to sleep when it’s light out. Plus, if your bed or bedroom is uncomfortable—too hot or cold, messy, or lumpy—your body will spend more time in light sleep. Wanting rest, you’ll sleep longer. So try to avoid it. If everything’s just fine with your sleep zone but you still can’t get under the eight hour mark, you might need to go see a doctor. It could be a symptom of narcolepsy, which makes you sleep in more.

No matter what the causes are, too much sleep is not good for your long term health. Rather than kick the can down the road, try getting some equilibrium(平衡) between your weekend and weekday sleep.