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One in three people who catch coronavirus will suffer at least one symptom of long COVID, a new study has found, which means as many as 33,000 Australians may have struggled with the mysterious, lingering effects of the virus.

The just-released study into long COVID, a phenomenon where people who have recovered from the virus remain hit with debilitating symptoms for months afterwards, is one of the most in-depth to have been conducted, involving 270,000 people in the US.

Researchers found 37 per cent of patients suffered at least one long COVID symptom three to six months after infection.

READ MORE: How 'long COVID' leaves survivors facing strange and frightening futures

The most common symptoms were breathing problems, abdominal symptoms, fatigue, pain and anxiety or depression.

People hospitalised with coronavirus were more likely to suffer long COVID, the study found, particularly symptoms of ongoing and crushing fatigue and a condition called brain fog.

"The best way that I can describe the brain fog is just like I'm sleepwalking 24/7," Maddy Bourke told 9News earlier this month.

"It feels like I'm constantly in that dreamlike state."

The 24-year-old teaching student from Melbourne is one of many Australians, young and old, battling long COVID and the mental and emotional toll that fight can bring.

Eight months after catching COVID-19, Ms Bourke still suffers weakness, fatigue and shortness of breath.

"It's very, very draining (and) very tiring to struggle through the days."

More than 101,000 Australians have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, with possibly one-third experiencing long COVID according to the study's estimations.

Do you suffer from long COVID? Email follow the group on Twitter here.

Taiwan's legislature descended into a rowdy brawl after opposition politicians interrupted an important policy address and rushed the podium.

Opposition politicians pushed their way to the speaker's podium as the chamber's head, Su Tseng-chang, was opening his annual address on the government’s performance with a focus on national security and the economy.

In the ensuing melee, a few politicians were shoved to the ground and others poured out bottles of water onto their opponents.

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Mr Tseng-chang was unable to give his speech.

The opposition politicians — members of the Nationalist party, or Kuomingtang — broke through the protective barrier formed by members of Mr Tseng-chang's own party, the ruling Democratic Progress Party, as they shouted for the speaker's resignation over his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nationalist party has criticised the ruling administration over its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Legislators on Tuesday waved signs which called recently shortened quarantine requirements for pilots a “big breach”.

Taiwan faced a large coronavirus outbreak in May and June this year, in which more than 800 people died.

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Many had suspected the outbreak had come from pilots returning home who only had to do three-day quarantines.

The original source of the May outbreak hasn't been officially confirmed.

Last year, members of the Nationalist Party brought pig guts into the chamber and threw them around in a melee to protest Taiwan's removal of a ban on American pork products.

On YouTube, where videos of the fight were shared, many comments were supportive of the brawl.

Some praised the Kuomingtang for “becoming stronger.”

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A coal train has smashed into a truck in the Upper Hunter, New South Wales, with the driver seriously injured.

The 29-year-old driver was trapped in the truck's wreckage, after the train ploughed into the flatbed vehicle at a level crossing near Scone, 150 kilometres north-west of Newcastle.

The man, who suffered head and chest injuries, was freed by a passer-by and rushed to Scone Hospital by ambulance.

LIVE UPDATES: COVID-19 outbreak spreads to Gold Coast

He was later airlifted to John Hunter Hospital.

The train driver was uninjured.

Four crews and the Westpac rescue helicopter were called to the crash site on Turanville Road just after 7am.

"When we arrived on scene and saw the wreckage, there was obviously some serious concerns that anyone involved could be critically injured," NSW Ambulance officer Mark Bell said.

"It only takes a split second for a horrific incident like this to occur."

https://twitter.com/_Madison_Scott/status/1443001434144792579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The rail line will be closed for some time while the train is assessed.