In more bizarre news, the makers of Corona beer have lost close to £132 million since the outbreak of coronavirus. 

According to Bloomberg, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewery behind Corona beer, suffered decline in several areas due to the beer having a striking similarity with the name of the widespread virus. 

NY Post

The brewer, running on a reported loss of $170 million, has suffered the steepest decline in quarterly profits since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China. 

The company’s first quarter earnings, since then, have dropped by a whopping 10% as it’s other beer produces (like Budweiser, Stella Artois, Leffe and Modelo) have sunk in popularity. 

Business Insider

The Belgium-based group, thus, believe a large number of people getting affected hampered their sale of beers.

They said: 

The impact of the Covid-19 virus outbreak on our business continues to evolve. The outbreak has led to a significant decline in demand in China in both on-premise and in-home channels. Additionally, demand during the Chinese New Year was lower than in previous years as it coincided with the beginning of this outbreak.

While nightlife in major hubs across the world has been cut short due to the outbreak, a number of people also prefer staying indoors during the day time thus affecting the demand of luxuries like beer and expensive alcohol. 

The CEO, Carlos Brito, explained: 

Our business is all about going to restaurants, to nightlife, going out with friends, it’s really about to go back to normal, we’re preparing for the surge when things return to normal. As we look to the future, we are determined to lead growth through consumer-centricity, operational excellence and innovation. Our performance in 2019 was below our expectations, and we are not satisfied with these results.
Forbes

While the sales figures for Corona Lager have dropped significantly, the number of Google searches have spiraled up by a whooping 1,100 percent, reports data from Google Trends. 

Some people have even searched for terms like ‘beer virus’ and ‘corona beer virus’. 

The outbreak of coronavirus has affected businesses and industries all across the globe. Even the stock market crashed after Sensex dropped to 1,100 points earlier today.