After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the general expectations for 2022 can best be described as hesitant. Since 2021 didn’t end the virus-ridden streak of bad years, the only thing we can do is hope. Hope for a better future. Hope for the end of the time when masks will be necessary, hope for the end of family and friends getting sick left and right. Hope for elders no longer being at such great risk of illness, hope for the end of travel restrictions. Hope for a return back to normal.
Needless to say, predicting the third year of COVID-19 will be difficult; But here is a list of ten expectations.
The pandemic will get worse before it gets better.
As of right now, Austin is at a stage 5 of the COVID-19 risk-based guidelines, and appears to only be getting worse. Numbers are as high as 184,000 cases in Travis County alone, according to Google’s Coronavirus Case Counter. New cases have had a sharp increase since January 3rd, going from 0 new cases on January 2nd to over 10,000 the following day. I believe that there will only be an increase in cases before we ever see any sort of major decrease. For now, all we can do is take precautions and hope the spread doesn’t increase.

Squid Game’s season two will be delayed.
Fans of the series may have to wait until 2024 to get the second season. Based on how long the production for season one took, season two is likely to take as long, or possibly even longer. “There’s been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season. So I almost feel like you leave us no choice! But I will say there will indeed be a second season,” Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said in an interview with Associated Press. “It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently. But I do think it’s too early to say when and how that’s going to happen. So I will promise you this- Gi-Hun will come back, and he will do something for the world.” So while the second season of the hit show has been commissioned, and there is a high chance that it may take longer than fans had previously expected.

A new variant will appear by the end of June.
The COVID-19 patterns that have been appearing indicate a new variant appears every 4-5 months. With this time estimate, it’s safe to say that Omicron will soon be forgotten, as a new variant of the virus will make it’s indubitable march across the continents sooner or later.

SPIDER-MAN: Across the Spider-Verse will be delayed for several months.
Based on how long the project is estimated to take, it’s safe to say that the animation team behind the long-awaited sequel will be behind schedule. The expected date is October 1st, 2022, but there is reason to believe that this movie will take longer than planned. The first movie, SPIDER-MAN: Into the Spider-Verse took quite a lot of investment and time to make. Filmmaker Chris Miller said, “Four years and 800 people working on it later, here we are.” With this kind of timing, creating the sequel could potentially take as long as 2026. But here’s to hoping that fans only have to wait 10 months rather than 4 years, and that the current estimation of a final date is accurate.

Texas will have another major winter storm within the next two months.
Ever since the winter storm of early 2021, Texans have been scarred from the event. Even though local water and electrical companies promise that a repeat of the event will never occur, residents of the area are still skeptical. Working as a cashier for H-E-B, I’ve noticed recently that we’ve had several shortages of basic items, such as cabbage, paper towels, and various other products. And if you want an at-home COVID test? KN95 masks? Forget it. If you get to the store before 10 a.m., you may have a chance, but even those are slim. The demands from the people are growing out of control again. Many co-workers of mine believe the rush to be the people’s expectation and memory of last year’s winter storm, and fear another one coming, so they’ve begun purchasing products at rapid rates. Stores like H-E-B can barely keep up. Hopefully, though, local stores can get a foothold, and the rush will be over soon.

Disney’s new movie that comes out this year will be as unique and unexpected as Encanto, and it will be more highly rated than Frozen II. Another movie coming out within the next couple months is expected from the expansive world of Disney entertainment.
With the recent hit movie Encanto, Disney is expected to deliver something just as visually beautiful in the next half year. With Frozen II’s disappointing ratings, Disney’s animation studios are expected to make an improvement in their plot writing to make a comeback, and distract critics from the somewhat-embarrassment that Frozen II turned out to be. But until the public sees a trailer, all we can do is wait.

Sometime in the next five months, all RRISD students and staff will teach and learn virtually once again due to lack of physical attendance and the slew of sicknesses going around.
Despite the student-led walkout occurring on Thursday, January 20th, RRISD has yet to account for the issues that keeping school in-person has caused. Absences are on an all-time high, contributed to by COVID-19, a variety of colds, the flu, allergies, sinus infections, and plenty of others. The email all RRISD students, staff, and parents received from interim superintendent Dr. Daniel Presley outlined why Westwood isn’t able to return to a virtual environment. The main reason is because the state of Texas doesn’t allow more than 10% of a district’s student population to be learning virtually. Another reason is the lack of substitute teachers to cover the amount of teacher absences. They’re busy trying to cover other classes where the teacher is sick at home and thus, the lack of class coverage continues. This leads me to believe that eventually, something will have to happen. I’ve already heard rumors about the school being shut down for up to four days, to allow time for teachers and substitutes to catch up on class work. They’re behind on grading papers, answering emails, and tending to the abundance of tasks that teachers have to keep up with on a daily basis. These reasons add to the mounting evidence that RRISD has to have some sort of closure, a period of recovery, or a full return to virtual learning.

Elon Musk will release the new technologies he’s been working on over the past several years, however, people will be hesitant to be test subjects.
Several online sources have hinted at Elon Musk’s new technologies. This has included things such as a microchip implanted in people’s brains and a robot that will be able to automatically implant said chip. The chip is called Neuralink, and it’s already being tested and used on animals. In 2019, Musk excitedly announced that the company had “successfully implanted its chip in a monkey’s brain.” In 2020, Musk had successfully tested the technology on a pig for several months, and was able to “accurately predict the positioning of [the pig]’s limbs when she was walking on a treadmill.” He’d recently presented these once again. However, I predict that people won’t be too excited to have a chip implanted into their own brain. Who knows how long it will take for the technology to be perfected, approved, and available to the public? Either way, this may just be the start of brain-implanted technology coming up in the near future.

The record for largest sandwich ever constructed will be broken.
After the previous Guiness World Record-breaking attempt in Iran, there are bound to be more sandwich artists. Whether it’s some motivated bakers or just hungry teenagers, this year feels like the year that something extraordinary will happen in the record-breaking field. We’ll see if something as fantastic as giant sandwiches crosses our headlines this year.

The DECA Finest Chocolate chocolate bar sales will be higher than ever, and the demand will sky-rocket.
The demand for chocolate bars during the fall season towards the back end of 2022 will no doubt be spectacular. Seeing as how quickly the bars went this past fall, I expect this year  the demand will be no different, if not even greater. With the current virus expected to get worse, more and more students and staff will be expected to grab the chocolate at a faster rate. Due to the trials the pandemic has brought and continues to bring, one dollar chocolate will be a sweet relief. We’ll see if the state of COVID-19 correlates to the speed at which chocolate is bought. But until the fall, we won’t know.

These are my predictions for 2022. Hopefully you enjoyed reading about them as much as I have enjoyed writing them! Please keep in mind that these are all just speculation, not to be taken as solid truth. Whether they’re accurate or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.