Portland schools reinstate virus measures amid omicron

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland Public Schools officials are tightening mask and vaccine requirements for after-school sports and music and dance performances amid a surge of COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant. With little appetite for a return to a complete shutdown, some other districts were taking similar measures while others announced no changes for now. Oregon set a daily record for the number of new COVID-19 cases Wednesday for the third time in a week and health officials said more than 20% of tests were coming back positive. State officials say districts must implement new safeguards against omicron or pause extracurriculars.