RIYADH: Oman announced a decision to shift to distance learning for all schools in the sultanate for four weeks, starting on Sunday. The decision comes as Gulf countries have seen a spike in daily COVID-19 cases, fueled by the spread of the omicron variant. Oman also called on institutions that have been allowed to continue their activities, especially those that include large numbers of people, such as commercial complexes, exhibitions, conferences, event halls and sports activities, to adhere to the requirements set for conducting events. The sultanate said capacity at events should not to exceed 50 percent, and everyone must be fully vaccinated and adhere to precautionary measures. The health ministry registered 718 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, raising the total to 309,588.