Out-of-this-world predictions for 2022

Omicron, stock market crashes and aliens, oh my! So predicts columnist Jason Godfrey for 2022. (Don't worry, though, his predictions don't come true!)

Welcome to 2022! For everyone who hopes it’s going to be better than the last two years of pandemic isolation and fear-living, I’m here to crush your dreams with my “Reckless, bold and pessimistic predictions for 2022”!

First prediction: Covid-19 isn’t done with us.

There’s been lots of talk of the Omicron variant being the end. It has an increased transmission rate but a lack of severity. Just like the original deadly strain of influenza in the 1918 pandemic mutated into the relatively mild flu we know now, many are saying the Omicron variant is Covid-19’s milder version that will become the predominant version of the virus, and if that happens the pandemic, as we know it, should be over.