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A2 THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2022 The Bulletin LOCAL, STATE & NATION How to reach us COVID-19 CIRCULATION Didn’t receive your paper? Start or stop subscription? 541-385-5800 Northeast Oregon PHONE HOURS 2022 STARTED WET, BUT 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays DROUGHT GENERAL INFORMATION 541-382-1811 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. ONLINE www.bendbulletin.com U.S. infections, hospitalizations continue their steady decline BY LEAH WILLINGHAM AND JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press CONCERNS LINGER Average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall in the U.S., an indicator that the omicron variant’s hold is weakening across the country. Total confirmed cases re- ported Saturday barely ex- ceeded 100,000, a sharp down- turn from around 800,850 five weeks ago on Jan. 16, accord- ing to Johns Hopkins Univer- sity data. In New York, the number of cases went down by more than 50% over the last two weeks. “I think what’s influencing the decline, of course, is that omicron is starting to run out of people to infect,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and infectious disease chief at the University of Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Bio- medical Sciences. COVID-19 hospitalizations are down from a national sev- en-day average of 146,534 on Jan. 20 to 80,185 the week end- ing in Feb. 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID data tracker. The drop in daily hospitaliza- tions in Oregon amid omicron is expected to fall below 400 per day by March 20, according to a new forecast by Oregon Health & Science University. Oregon’s latest single-day re- port, released Friday, showed 1,635 new COVID-19 cases statewide. EMAIL bulletin@bendbulletin.com Dry January aggravates conditions across the region AFTER HOURS Newsroom ................................541-383-0348 Circulation ................................541-385-5800 NEWSROOM EMAIL Business ........business@bendbulletin.com City Desk .............news@bendbulletin.com Features.................................................................. communitylife@bendbulletin.com Sports ................. sports@bendbulletin.com NEWSROOM FAX 541-385-5804 OUR ADDRESS Street .............. 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive Suite 200 Bend, OR 97702 Mailing ........... P.O. Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 B ADMINISTRATION Publisher Heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341 Editor Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166 BY KATY NESBITT For EO Media Group P ENDLETON — December and January storms set up the winter of 2022 to be cold and wet, but several weeks without sig- nificant snow or rain are creating concerns of another drought year. Northeast Oregon is faring better than Central and Southern Oregon, with cold temperatures prevent- ing the early January snowfall from melting. Snow in the last few days has helped inch up snowpack and snow water equivalent levels for the Blue and Wallowa mountains. According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service website, monthly streamflow and reservoir conditions for January in the Umatilla-Walla Walla-Wil- low Basin were above average. Two bodies of water in the southern re- gion of the basin near Heppner are considerably higher than the rest of the basin: Willow Creek is at 187% and Rhea Creek is at 142% of the 30-year median. Farther south, the North Fork John Day River at Monument is re- cording 83% of its 30-year median. The basin has one stronghold for water: Camas Creek near Ukiah at 346% of the median. Snowpack has been holding up, despite the lack of precipitation in the last five weeks. In the Blue Mountains between La Grande and Pendleton, Em- igrant Springs has 45 inches of snowpack and is 148% above av- erage with 10% snow water equiv- alent. High Ridge Snotel east of Pendleton has 52 inches of snow- pack, 5% below its average, but with 33% snow water equivalent. In the Wallowas, Mount How- ard has 27 inches of snowpack, 25% below average with 32% snow wa- ter equivalent. On the south side of DEPARTMENT HEADS Advertising Brian Naplachowski .................541-383-0370 Circulation/Operations Jeremy Feldman ......................541-617-7830 Finance ......................................541-383-0324 Human Resources ................541-383-0340 TALK TO AN EDITOR City Julie Johnson ...................541-383-0367 Business, Features, GO! Magazine Jody Lawrence-Turner ............541-383-0308 Editorials Richard Coe ...........541-383-0353 News Tim Doran .......................541-383-0360 Photos .........................................541-383-0366 Sports Mark Morical ...............541-383-0318 TALK TO A REPORTER Bend/Deschutes Government Brenna Visser .............................541-633-2160 Business Suzanne Roig ............................541-633-2117 Calendar .....................................541-383-0304 Education Bryce Dole .....................................541-617-7854 Fine Arts/Features David Jasper .................................541-383-0349 Health Suzanne Roig ............................541-633-2117 La Pine ........................................541-383-0367 Public Lands/Environment Michael Kohn ............................541-617-7818 Public Safety Garrett Andrews ......................541-383-0325 Redmond Joe Siess..........................................541-617-7820 Salem/State Government .. 541-383-0367 Sisters .........................................541-383-0367 Sunriver .....................................541-383-0367 Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group ABOVE: A dwindling snowpack rests atop Mount Harris, near Imbler in Union County, on Friday. Several weeks without significant snow or rain are creating concerns of another drought year. | BACKGROUND: Weeks of subfreezing temperatures have held snow in the higher elevations of Northeast Oregon, as is evident in this Feb- ruary photo of the Wallowa Mountains. Despite reasonable snowpack levels in the high country, however, most of the region is still facing severe drought. the range, Moss Springs Snotel is recording 49 inches of snowpack, which is 15% below average with a snow water equivalent of 32%. In Central Oregon, after a burst of snowfall slammed the area in late December and early January, snow- pack levels surged to 130% of aver- age, but dry conditions since those storms have erased much of those gains. A Feb. 12 report in The Bul- letin put the snowpack in the Upper Deschutes and Crooked River ba- sin at 92% of normal, with precip- itation for the water year at 89% of normal, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. While Northeast Oregon’s snow- pack and water levels look good now, the area is facing down the barrel of another drought year, ac- cording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to www.drought.gov, Wallowa County was down 0.69 inches of precipitation in January. The entire county is considered to be in severe drought status, and 44.36% of the county is experienc- ing extreme drought conditions. Union County is down 0.27 inches of its average precipitation. The entire county is considered to be under severe drought conditions while 4.3% is experiencing extreme drought. And Umatilla County is down 0.2 inches of precipitation from a normal January. This puts all of the county under severe drought conditions, with 33.77% considered to be under extreme drought con- ditions. The extended forecast for North- east Oregon calls for 33% to 40% below normal precipitation with a 40% to 50% chance of above nor- mal temperatures. More declines ahead? Public health experts say they are feeling hopeful that more declines are ahead and that the country is shifting from being in a pandemic to an ‘endemic’ that is more con- sistent and predictable. How- ever, many expressed concern that vaccine uptick in the U.S. has still been below expecta- tions, concerns that are ex- acerbated by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Dr. William Schaffner of Van- derbilt University’s School of Medicine said Sunday that the downturn in case numbers and hospitalizations is encouraging. He agreed that it likely has a lot to do with herd immunity. “There are two sides to omi- cron’s coin,” he said. “The bad thing is that it can spread to a lot of people and make them mildly ill. The good thing is it can spread to a lot of people and make them mildly ill, be- cause in doing so, it has created a lot of natural immunity.” However, Schaffner said it’s much too early to “raise the banner of mission accom- plished.” REDMOND BUREAU Mailing address ..................P.O. Box 6020 Bend, OR 97708 Phone ......................................... 541-617-7829 CORRECTIONS The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all stories are accurate. If you know of an error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367. TO SUBSCRIBE Call us ......................541-385-5800 • Home delivery and E-Edition ..........................$7 per week • By mail .................................$9.50 per week • E-Edition only ...................$4.50 per week ❝ To sign up for our e-Editions, visit www.bendbulletin.com to register. 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