For the first time, scientists from the University of Hong Kong managed to photograph the omicron strain of the coronavirus. This is reported on the website of the scientific institution.
The researchers took an electron micrograph of a monkey kidney cell (Vero E6) infected with an omicron. On it, they saw damage with swollen vesicles containing viral particles. At high magnification, they were able to make out clusters of characteristic spherical objects with crown-shaped spikes on their surface.
Earlier, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the University of London found that according to a mathematical model built by an international team of scientists, the omicron strain COVID-19 spreads twice as fast as the delta variant. The results obtained confirmed the early hypothesis of faster transmission of the virus from person to person. However, it is still unclear what exactly the rate of spread is connected with: with the increased infectivity of a new strain of coronavirus or with its ability to evade an immune response.
