Omicron variant

Not long after the pandemic arrived in Central Oregon, its march through the region became a story told with numbers. Every afternoon, state health officials released a tally of positive test results and deaths for every county in the state.

To keep track, The Bulletin created a chart that was updated whenever new numbers arrived. Against a backdrop of public anxiety, the virus box became a dispassionate reminder of the severity of COVID-19 and all its variants.

For much of the pandemic, as grim milestones were reached or declining numbers prompted hope, the tally arrived in an email — seven days a week at first, then just Monday through Friday. In response, the virus box would be updated, as if anyone really needed a reminder that the pandemic was still out there. The Bulletin, however, felt it was important to keep our communities informed about local cases and the severity of COVID-19 infections in Central Oregon. During the omicron spike, we added a daily count of COVID-19-positive patients at St. Charles Bend and how many of those patients were in the intensive care unit.

But the virus box will be discontinued from this point forward, a nod to the end of Oregon’s mask mandate that took effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday. The pandemic, of course, has not ended and The Bulletin will continue to monitor the state’s daily tally. If the virus surges with a new variant, or the number of deaths in Central Oregon spikes, that will trigger stories that examine the cause.