• Question: Is the drink corona linked in any way to the coronavirus

    Asked by Bethany is @home! on 22 May 2020.
    • Photo: Jean O'Dwyer

      Jean O'Dwyer answered on 22 May 2020: last edited 22 May 2020 8:14 am

      It’s not! Nor is the band ‘The Coronas’, for that matter! Corona beer has a crown on its label because corona means crown. Similarly, the corona-virus is named that because it has a series of crown-like spikes on its surface. So, just bad luck for its namesakes!

    • Photo: Louise Mc Grath

      Louise Mc Grath answered on 22 May 2020:

      Not at all! Just a coincidence! Otherwise if it were true, the band the Coronas would be involved too!

    • Photo: Simon Spichak

      Simon Spichak answered on 22 May 2020:

      Hi Bethany, there is no link between the drink corona and the coronavirus! Coronavirus is just the name we use to describe a group of viruses with similar characteristics. COVID-19 is caused by one coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The virus doesn’t have anything to do with the drink Corona (though the name does seem quite unfortunate now).

    • Photo: Aisling Ryan

      Aisling Ryan answered on 22 May 2020:

      Not at all! Just an unfortunate coincidence. Corona beer was first brewed in 1925, nearly 100 years ago! The people that first made it in Mexico would have had no idea the name would be shared with a virus in 2019/2020! In Spanish (the language spoken in Mexico) the word corona means crown. So they basically just called their beer crown. Using this word would symbolise the beer being royal, which is desirable (who doesn’t want to be royalty, right?!).
      In Latin, the word for crown, or wreath, is also corona. Science commonly uses Latin to name new discoveries, especially in microbiology (bacteria and viruses). Scientists that looked at coronavirus under a microscope saw that the virus has shapes on it that look like crowns. There are actually a few different types of coronaviruses. We call the one causing the pandemic COVID-19, which stands for (CO)rona (VI)rus (D)isease 20(19), because it was first discovered in the year 2019.

    • Photo: Dimitar Shterionov

      Dimitar Shterionov answered on 22 May 2020:

      No 🙂

    • Photo: Karen Bacon

      Karen Bacon answered on 22 May 2020:

      No, not at all. It is just a naming co-incidence.

    • Photo: Aruna Chandrasekar

      Aruna Chandrasekar answered on 22 May 2020:

      Not at all! No amount of corona (the drink) can end or protect us from the coronavirus 😀

    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 29 May 2020:

      No, though I’d be interested to know if they’ve seen any dip in their sales from people making the association!

    • Photo: Fiona Malone

      Fiona Malone answered on 29 May 2020:

      Nope, no link at all!

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