Nostradamus Predicted Coronavirus?  Fact-Checkers Are On It

Many people have reason to believe that Nostradamus predicted the Coronavirus pandemic.  A meme, now circulating social media (you knew this was coming), seems to confirm Nostradamus’s predictions…  However, fact-checking websites – such as Snopes and Politifact -have quickly downplayed the claims.  Even Facebook started flagging the image with a “false information” tag.

In his 1555 book, Les Prophéties, Nostradamus correctly predicted air travel, the great London fire, the rise of Hitler, and 9/11, and now Nostradamus fans look to the 1973 The Prophecies of Nostradamus by Erika Cheetham, as a guide to what he saw in the current day.  The quote most Nostradamus fans cite is “In the feeble lists, great calamity through America and Lombardy. The fire in the ship, plague and captivity; Mercury in Sagittarius, Saturn warning.”

The “plague and captivity,” explained as the Coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, while “the feeble lists” refer to the sick and those who have died from the virus.  Saturn moved into Aquarius on March 21st as New York City’s Coronavirus cases intensified and shelter-in-place orders were given.  The ship in the prediction could refer to the two cruise lines, the Grand Princess that is docked in Oakland with confirmed Coronavirus cases and the Coral Princess in Miami.

Although “Mercury in Sagittarius” couldn’t be explained since the planet won’t be in the constellation until 2022, do you believe that Nostradamus has predicted COVID-19?