Shafaq News/ The Spokesperson to the Iraqi Ministry of Health (MoH), Saif al-Badr, debunked the media reports about detecting cases infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Al-Badr said in a voice note received by Shafaq News Agency that the Ministry did not identify any case of the Omicron variant until the moment, "even though it is very likely given the spread of the variant in neighboring countries."

The spokesperson asserted that the Ministry of Health would make an official announcement in case it identified patients who contracted the highly transmissible variant.

Al-Badr urged the media outlets to pursue accuracy in sharing such news and draw the information from the Ministry of Health.