As more becomes known about the Omicron variant, the part that has experts worried is its increased transmissibility.

Dr. Lisa Barrett, Infectious Disease Doctor and Researcher at Dalhousie University, says what has become clear about the new variant over such a short period of time is that “transmission is its superpower.”

That, in a society where people are sick of not being able to see eachother, is what will lead to greater spread.

There’s another thing that is different about Omicron, says Barrett, and that is something called its attack rate.

(That refers to the number of people getting infected. For example, she says instead of 40 per cent of people in a household getting infected, with Omicron that number is closer to 100 per cent.)