At outbreak epicentre, S. African students shrug off Omicron and fret about exams

FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker administers the Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to Simphiwe, 13, amidst the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 04, 2021. Picture taken December 04, 2021. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

PRETORIA (Reuters) - The students knew their South African university was the epicentre of a new COVID-19 variant spreading panic across the globe, but over the past week many worried more about how Omicron would mess up exams and holiday plans than about catching it.

At the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), in the capital Pretoria, learners languidly walked across the green campus shaded by trees, chatting, buying soft drinks, staring at their phones and sitting on benches overlooking a pond.