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How South African scientists spotted the Omicron Covid variant

Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed South Africa flag and words "Omicron SARS-CoV-2" in this illustration taken, November 27, 2021. [Reuters]

On Friday Nov. 19, Raquel Viana, Head of Science at one of South Africa's biggest private testing labs, sequenced the genes on eight coronavirus samples - and got the shock of her life.

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