The Hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship, that left three dead, has many worrying. Public health officials around the world are now trying to trace people who came in contact with the hantavirus victims. Amid fears of Hantavirus spreading, a post from 2022 has gone viral. The person there seemingly predicted this situation four years back.
Hantaviruses usually spread when people breathe in contaminated residue of rodent droppings. Normally, hantaviruses do not spread easily between people. However, the Andes virus, which was on the cruise ship may be able to spread between people in rare cases, as per Associated Press. Further, the agency noted that viruses can change.
Thus while fears of an epidemic are not largely on the mind of health officials, they are exercising caution after the outbreak on the cruise ship, as per AP. The vessel is headed towards Canary Islands, where the rest of the passengers will disembark. The cruise had people from at least 12 different countries including several US states, such as Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas, AP further noted. A Dutch couple and a German national make up the three who died of the hantavirus outbreak.
Also Read | ‘Possibility of more cases, but public risk remains low’: WHO on hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship
Now, until the situation is fully under control, many are on the edge of their seats, having lived through the horrors of the coronavirus. Memories of COVID and the lockdowns it brought are fresh in almost everyone’s minds across the world. Thus, the 2022 post which came up has sparked a lot of discussion around it, because the person seemed to predict the end of the COVID epidemic and guess at the start of the Hantavirus epidemic. Here’s what was said on the viral 2022 X post.
What does X post say on COVID, Hantavirus?
The X post has been made by someone who goes by ‘soothsayer’. The term refers to a prophet, who can predict the future through magical, intuitive, or spiritual means. It was most often used in Old English and appears in works of Shakespeare for example. Most famously, in Julius Caesar, the soothsayer is the one who warns Caesar ‘b]eware the ides of March,’ indicating the day he would be betrayed by Brutus and the others, and stabbed.
The person on X appears to have leaned into the persona as their bio says “reads the future.” The individual simply wrote back in 2022, “2023: Corona ended.” They followed it up with “2026: Hantavirus.”
The post has gone viral and drawn reactions from social media influencers to even Polymarket, which calls itself the ‘world’s largest prediction market’.
“It’s all one big show,” wrote a person. Another added “This has to be a simulation.” Polymarket quipped “bro needs to get on Polymarket.”
One person, bewildered by what was going on, asked Grok how this was possible. The AI chatbot replied “Just a spooky coincidence, not prophecy. Hantavirus is real but rare and not person-to-person in most strains.”
