New York has announced three more cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, bringing to eight the number of state cases linked to the new variant.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Saturday said the cases appear to be unrelated.
Seven of them have been found in New York City and the other is in Suffolk County.
The number of states finding the variant is growing as well, with authorities in New Jersey, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Maryland reporting their first confirmed cases Friday, and Misssouri reporting its first presumed case.
The variant also has been detected in Nebraska, Minnesota, California, Hawaii, Colorado and Utah.