The announcement came on the eve of new projections by Oregon Health & Science University, which estimate the Omicron wave will peak at 1,650 hospitalizations statewide by the end of January—a higher figure than the hospital projected last week, though still lower than initial estimates. That prediction has fluctuated as OHSU analyst Peter Graven tracks how the variant has spread in other places, and how severe its effects have been.

Oregon goes into the new year with the omicron variant of covid spreading faster than expected, setting the stage for record hospitalizations through January, according to the latest forecast from Oregon Health & Science University.

Covid-19-related hospitalizations caused by the fast-moving Omicron variant could peak in Oregon by late January—about a month earlier than previously estimated—according to a year’s end forecast from Oregon Health and Science University released on Friday.

“Now is not the time to be resigned to getting COVID,” Oregon Health & Science University data analyst Peter Graven warned.

OHSU laboratory study published Dec. 16 finds breakthrough infections greatly enhance immune response to variants of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Remembering 2021: Gov. Kate Brown's visit to OHSU Primary Care Scappoose to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine.

Numbers could spike to 1,700 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon if the public doesn’t help, OHSU predicts. A wave of infections will accelerate in mid-January and peak in mid-February, according to the OHSU forecast.

COVID-19 caused chaos all over the world, o Marcel Curlin, M.D., (OHSU) is part of a panel of experts to take a closer look at the recent global surge of COVID-19.

An updated COVID-19 model from the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) projects that the state will see a peak of 1,250 Omicron-related hospitalizations in mid-February. That’s less than half of the 3,000 hospitalizations OHSU projected a couple weeks ago. The dramatic change in anticipated hospitalizations is due to new data that indicates the Omicron variant has a 70 percent lower hospitalization rate than the Delta variant.