Four more cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in New York, bringing the state’s number of cases up to 12, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

Two of the latest cases were found upstate, in Oneida County, and the other two were in Long Island’s Suffolk County. Of the previous eight cases, one was in Suffolk County and seven in New York City.

Hochul said none of the four latest cases was related to a three-day anime festival in New York City in November, which a Minnesota man who later tested positive for the omicron variant attended.

There’s still a lot to determine about omicron, including whether it is more contagious, as some health authorities suspect, whether it can evade vaccines and whether it makes people as sick as the original strain.

Cases have been found in states around the country.

(AP)