The Omicron COVID variant has been found to multiply about 70 times quicker than the original and Delta versions of coronavirus in tissue samples taken from the bronchus, the main tubes from the windpipe to the lungs, in laboratory experiments that could help explain its rapid transmission.

实验室在从支气管(连接气管和肺的主要管道)提取的组织样本中发现，奥密克戎新冠变种毒株的复制速度比原始新冠毒株和德尔塔毒株大约快70倍。这一实验有助于解释奥密克戎毒株的传播速度为什么这么快。

The study, by a team from the University of Hong Kong, also found the new variant grew 10 times slower in lung tissue, which the authors said could be an indicator of lower disease severity.
香港大学的一个团队开展的这项研究还发现，新变异株在肺部组织内的繁殖速度会降低10倍，研究作者称，这可能意味着病情不会那么重。

Michael Chan Chi-wai, who led the work, said the result needed to be interpreted with caution because severe disease is determined not only by how quickly the virus replicates but also by a person’s immune response and, in particular, whether the immune system goes into overdrive, causing a so-called cytokine storm.
研究领头人陈志伟(音译)表示，应谨慎看待这一结果，因为是否发展为重症不仅取决于病毒复制的速度，还取决于人体的免疫反应，特别是免疫系统是否会因过激反应导致所谓的细胞因子风暴。