Turkey registers first Omicron variant cases

Turkey has reported the first cases of Covid-19 Omicron variant in the country.

Six cases of the variant have been seen in two cities, Turkey's health minister announced on Saturday in parliament.

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

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

All the cases are in the country's western provinces with five of them in Izmir and one in Istanbul.

Turkey reported 19,255 daily coronavirus cases on Saturday with 191 additional deaths.

Over 82 percent of the population had at least two vaccine shots.

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

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the Omicron variant, which it had declared a "variant of concern," has been detected in 57 countries so far.