The first six cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected in Turkey, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was reported as saying on Saturday by state broadcaster TRT Haber.

Five of the cases were in the western city of Izmir and one in the largest city of Istanbul, but none of those affected needed hospital treatment, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported Koca as saying.

(Reporting by Daren Butler, Editing by William Maclean)