PORTLAND (WGME) -- The state is changing its COVID contact-tracing policy in schools because omicron is so hard to keep up with.

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The Maine CDC and Department of Education now both say that schools enforcing a universal masking policy may choose to suspend contact tracing because omicron is so contagious and nearly impossible to track down.

Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah says omicron spreads not only more easily, but more quickly, about a day earlier than other variants, because it replicates higher up in your respiratory tract.

That means severe infection in people's lungs occurs less frequently.

It also means a lot of transmission happens even before symptoms show up.