Oregon Hits Omicron Peak, 'Light At The End Of Very Long Tunnel'

PORTLAND, OR — It's what Oregonians have been waiting to hear. Hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 have peaked and the number is on the decline.

If this keeps up, Oregon will return to pre-omicron levels by the end of March.

That's the conclusion of a new forecast released by Oregon Health Sciences University. Officials there caution that while the end of the surge may be here, caution is still essential for now.

"It's important for people to stick with masking through the next several weeks," Director of OHSU's Office of Advanced Analytics Peter Graven, who oversaw the report, said.

"Even though our forecast projects light at the end of a very long tunnel, we can't lose sight of the fact that hospitals in Oregon are still struggling to deliver timely care for everyone who needs it."

Graven said that if the state lifts the mask mandate today, there would be another slight bump in the number of hospitalizations.

"With masking and behaviors, we have essential built a man holding back a reservoir of people who became susceptible to infection with omicron," he said.

"If we remove the dam now, it would flood. If we let the water drain out slowly, we can safely remove the dam without flooding our hospitals with cases all at once."