People Believe the Coronavirus and Corona Beer Are Related, Google Trends Show

(TMU) — As authorities in China and across the world continue to struggle to contain an outbreak of the new novel coronavirus, curious internet users are wondering what the connection is between the deadly virus and Mexican beer Corona Extra.

Just to be clear, there is no connection between the Mexican pale lager and the outbreak—which has infected over 6,000 people in China and killed at least 132.

However, this hasn’t stopped online searches for “beer virus,” “corona beer virus,” and “beer coronavirus” from surging across search engines since January 18, according to Google Trends data.

From Jan. 18 to Jan. 26, Google Trends found that “corona beer virus” searches climbed by 2,300 percent while searches for “beer coronavirus” jumped 3,233 percent. In the meantime, “beer virus” jumped by 744 percent.

It remains unclear whether internet users were searching for the many memes connecting the beer and the virus or if they were genuinely curious about any possible connection between the beverage and the outbreak.

Top countries that searched for “Corona beer virus” include Cambodia and Denmark, according to search engine data.

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In Latin, the word “Corōna” means crown—a word that was carried into modern romance languages like Spanish, where corona also means crown. Corona beer originated in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide and the top-selling imported beer in the United States.

In English, “corona” is also an anatomical term for those body parts that resemble a crown.

The term “coronavirus” originates from the fact that the virus has spikes that resemble those on a crown when viewed under a microscope.

https://twitter.com/lilpostoffice1/status/1221249265860775936

The first case reported of the deadly virus emerged on December 8 in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The virus has received widespread media attention including no shortage of hysterical and sensationalistic reports throughout January.

So far, the coronavirus has spread to at least seventeen countries.

According to Twitter user Joonas Tuhkuri, the stock price of Corona’s parent company Constellation Brands hasn’t been adversely affected by the outbreak—or at least not yet.

https://twitter.com/joonastuhkuri/status/1222192924093341697

By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com