Omicron variant: what is the R-value? How many people can you infect?

A person sick with the omicron variant could infect three to five people at a time on average, according to one British health expert.

Dr Susan Hopkins, the UK Health Security Agency’s chief medical adviser, said on Thursday that the omicron R-value – a number that determines how many people can be infected by another person – is somewhere between three and five, The Guardian reports.

• This means that a person, on average, would infect three to five more people with the omicron variant.

However, Hopkins said there was not enough data on the omicron variant yet to fully determine its spread. So far, the number of cases linked to the virus appears to be doubling every day.

It is close to what we have seen in Canada. Through Global News, the province of Ontario saw the R-value of the omicron variant increase to four times that of the delta variant.

• “It’s safe to say this is a very fast variant that is quickly gaining the upper hand and will likely be the dominant variant here in Ontario by the end of this week,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, specialist. of infectious diseases at the Toronto General Hospital. , according to Global News.

Scientists are still struggling to learn more about the omicron and how quickly it spreads. One new lab study suggested that the omicron variant of the new coronavirus could spread 70 times faster than the delta variant.

• In fact, omicron “multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and the original SARS-CoV-2 in the human bronchus, which may explain why Omicron can be transmitted faster between humans than previous variants.” the researchers said.