omicron was first found, covid cases have quadrupled since tuesday. that's in just a little more than four days. a surprising number of those cases have also been diagnosed now in small children. now, omicron is a mutated form of the coronavirus. you can see a diagram of it here. now, the areas that we see indicate a color difference from the original virus that was first seen at the end of 2019. and researchers now say the mutation includes genetic material that looks like it actually came from a virus that causes the common cold. that could make omicron more transmissible. what we don't know, if it will also make it perhaps weaker in terms of illness. now, a university study in south africa also found that it's likely that omicron can evade immunity from a past infection more easily than other strains. what does that mean? it means there could be a greater risk of catching covid