spread more easily but some indications are that it causes less severe symptoms. >> we will possibly have a million people a day who are being infected in the uk, and even if it's a tiny proportion of that large number, that will still result in quite a large number of hospitalizations. >> because the lab we're about to enter contains live saemps of omicron, we have to be decked out head to toe in protective equipment and also sealed off with this respirator from any potential danger. >> reporter: when the virus sample first arrived here two weeks ago, it came in a very small vial. it's been left to grow and multiply in this incubator since then. now they finally have enough to experiment with. they've already noticed omicron does not multiply as quickly as delta. under the microscope, the dark spots are cells delta infected in 24 hours, but even after 48 hours, the omicron variant has not spread nearly as far. the potentially encouraging