Turkey reports 1st cases of omicron coronavirus variant

ANKARA

Turkey on Saturday reported the first six cases of the new omicron variant of coronavirus.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed the cases during budget talks in parliament, saying cases are reported in Istanbul and western Izmir province.

"They are outpatients who do not have any problems and are with extremely mild symptoms," he said, adding that the infected people have not been hospitalized.

Koca gave no further details about how they caught the omicron variant.

South African scientists announced on Nov. 24 the discovery of the novel variant, which has several mutations.

The World Health Organization Wednesday said that the omicron variant, which it had declared a "variant of concern," has been detected in 57 countries so far, with more countries reporting omicron cases since then.