The world has been hit by a new epidemic; a new-found virus has till now affected over 7,700 people. The deadly coronavirus that has reportedly taken the lives of more than 170 people was first reported on December 8 in the city of Wuhan, central China.
The increasing number of fatalities due to the fast-spreading virus has created a panic-like situation across the world. Seventeen countries have reported cases of the coronavirus including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Canada, US, France and Germany with some suspected cases in India too, reported NDTV.
Hence, people started researching about the virus, its prevention and cure to stay safe. Ministry Of Health also issued a list of precautions to take against the virus. Needless to say, people visited ‘Google baba’ to look for all the answers.
But, instead of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, searches for ‘corona beer virus’, ‘beer virus’, and ‘beer coronavirus’ have sky-rocketed, reported Business Insider. People were curious to know if the drink is responsible for the disease or not. It’s probably not their fault because the ‘corona’ most people know of is the Mexican beer ‘Corona Extra’. People in China are also covering their heads with plastic sheets and jars to save themselves from the virus.
Data from Google Trends shows that ‘beer coronavirus’ was the most Googled term overtime on the internet. It also remained the most searched term in India.
Croatia and Argentina showed maximum people searching for ‘corona beer virus’.
Searches for ‘beer virus’ jumped to 744% between January 18 and January 26, while searches for ‘beer coronavirus’ jumped to 3,233% worldwide, said reports.
Well, in that case, one would think that the sales of the beer might have dropped significantly, but no, that’s not the case.
The beer company, however, didn’t seem to be affected by it. “We believe, by and large, that consumers understand there’s no linkage between the virus and our business,” Maggie Bowman, senior communications director at Constellation Brands, Corona’s producer, told BI.
But why is the virus named so you ask? Well, according to India Today, the word ‘corona’ means ‘crown’ in Latin. And when viewed under a microscope, coronaviruses appear to have a crown-like structure too. Hence, the virus is referred to as coronavirus.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), “coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.”
Respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Preventive measures include:
Regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.
People, there is no connection between the beer and the virus. So stay safe guys!