ANKARA 

Egypt has confirmed the country’s first three cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus.

A Health Ministry statement said Saturday that two of the cases did not show any symptoms for the virus, while the third showed mild symptoms.

The three were placed in quarantine, the statement said.

The omicron variant was first reported in South Africa in late November but has so far spread to more than 70 countries, a phenomenon the World Health Organization described as "alarming".

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, had recorded a total of 373,509 cases of coronavirus, including 21,277 deaths.

* Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar