There have been some suggestions, you know, with the estian drop out work, that there might have been some prioritization of cases in areas where omacon has already been found. Too dear to be aware of that bias, but none the less, i think that the rise that we're seeing is a real rise. There are two other big questions, disease severity and immunity, which you've also been looking at. Let's start with disease severity? What do we know about this? So at the moment, if we look at the ucanean, none of the cases in the uk. Have been hospitalized or died,. as far as the current situation is.
Over 40 countries have now confirmed the presence of Omicron. And, in the UK, scientists have been increasingly expressing their concern about the new variant. Some have speculated there could be more than 1,000 cases here already, and that it could become the dominant variant within weeks. To get an update on what we know about the Omicron variant, and how quickly it might be spreading, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Nicola Davis, the Guardian’s science correspondent. Help support our independent journalism at
theguardian.com/sciencepod