>> it appears to be more contagious. data out of denmark from the serum institute suggests it's about 1.5 times more contagious than the strain of omicron that has made it around the u.s. >> which is already so transmissible. >> exactly. does it evade our immune system? does it evade the immunity we've acquired from omicron infection or the advantage scenes? most of the evidence so far, and it's preliminary, suggests it doesn't. in fact, there's data out of the uk that suggests a fully boosted person may be more protected against this new variant than they were against the initial strain of omicron. and then the final question, is it more virulent? is it more dangerous? and so far based on what we've seen out of denmark and the uk which are collecting very good data on this, it doesn't appear to be a more virulent strain. >> the new research comes as covid infections are surging around the world. russia registered more than 121,000 new cases sunday, a new record. over the weekend russia surpassed more than 100,000 daily infections for the first time. meantime, reuters is reporting that new zealand's prime minister has tested negative for