The Omicron COVID varient has been foud to mutiply about 70 times quicker than the original and Delta version of coronavirus in tissue samples taken from bronchus,the main tubes from the windpipe to lungs, in laboratory experiments that could help explain its rapid transmission.
The study, by a team from Universtiy of Hong Kong,also found the new varient grew 10 times slower in lung tissue,which the authors said could be an indicator of lowe disease severity.
Michael Chan Chi-wai,who led the word,said the result needed to be interpretd with caution because sever diseas is determined not only by how quickly the virus replicates but alos by a person's immune response and, in particular, whether the immune systeam goes into overdrive, causing a so-called cytokine storm.
