Should We Feel Scared or Safe? What the Omicron Variant Means for All of Hollywood...but SPECIFICALLY for Omarion

The coronavirus pandemic has kept the world on high alert for over a year and a half. In March 2020, the world came to a screeching halt. Everything changed, closed, and recalculated- including the performance industry. Production in Hollywood was shut down in a way that was never seen before. In the past few months, it has seemed as if the clouds have started to lift: case numbers went down, the Delta variant, while fast-spreading, was not found to be as deadly as the original, and the world started to reopen. A new variant, however, has set the world on the edge of their seats again: the omicron variant.

This newest variant of Covid-19 has been deemed a Variant of Concern by the World Health Organization. While no cases of this new variant have yet been documented in the United States, both the UK and the United States have heightened travel restrictions. So much remains unknown about the omicron variant which, presently, opens the door for some good and bad news. As testing is currently taking place, we will know in the next two weeks the level of concern that should surround omicron. We will know whether or not our vaccines work against it, what the approximated death rate of the variant is, and what it means for the state of closure of the country.

The threat of the unknown may be enough to keep many inside, out of movie theaters. This is the issue that is hitting Hollywood the hardest. Rob Mitchell, a box office analyst, said, "The unfortunate thing about omicron hitting now is that October was the first month when we're incredibly close to average box office returns pre-pandemic." Hollywood has made it through once. It can undoubtedly make it through again. We just need to stay safe, follow CDC guidelines, and remain open to new information that comes our way.

In lighter news, Twitter is having a field day with omicron. After President Biden mispronunciation of omicron, The Recount tweeted out "No matter what you call it- Omicron, Omicron, Omarion - the new COVID variant is here, folks!

People have taken this and turned it into an ongoing joke, deeming it the Omarion varient, after the singer-songwriter.

People have been Tweeting out videos of Omarion in reference to the new variant of the disease.

Even in times that seem scary and dark, there is always room for a bit of laughter!