SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Here the omicron variant is shown budding (purple dots) from a vero mammalian kidney epithelial cell 36 hours after infection. The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, the most common form of which is known as BA.1, now accounts for nearly all of the coronavirus infections globally. Numbers of Omicron infections can double in under two days, which is significantly faster than previous COVID-19 variants and closer to what public-health officials would expect from the milder influenza virus. Magnification x 8000 at 10cm wide. Specimen courtesy of Greg Towers, UCL .