ISTANBUL — Turkey recorded its first six cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, as Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the cases in budget meetings in congress.

He said that cases are discovered in Istanbul and western Izmir area. Anadolu New Agency quoted the minister saying “We have six case tested positive with the new Omicron cases, five in Istanbul and one in Izmir.”

Koca added, "They are outpatients who do not have any problems and are with extremely mild symptoms," while affirming that the infected people were not hospitalized.

The Health Minister offered no extra details regarding how they found the Omicron variant. On Nov. 24, South African experts declared the detection of the new variant that has many alterations.

The first case with he “B.1.1.529” strain, which the World Health Organization (WHO) called Omicron, was recorded in Botswana on Nov. 11 in a citizen from South Africa, where the largest number of patients was detected.

In addition to South African region, the strain reached a group of other countries around the world, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Israel, Australia, Canada, the United States, Russia, Pakistan and Japan. — Agencies