Google Searches Show Many People Apparently Think Coronavirus Is Related to Corona Beer

File this under “things that really shouldn’t need to be said, but apparently do”: The coronavirus scare currently spreading around the world, also known as nCoV, has nothing to do with the world’s most popular, mass-produced brand of Mexican lager.

Of course, if you were going exclusively off Google search trends, you might indeed think this was the case. As BoingBoing first observed, searches for “corona beer virus” have skyrocketed in the last week, indicating that there’s a whole lot of people out there who are apparently concerned that the frightening respiratory virus and Corona lager are in some way linked. And it’s not just the U.S., either—the search term for “corona beer virus” has popped up in many countries, especially in seemingly random, far-flung places like Finland and New Zealand.

So, to reiterate: No, these things are not related just because they happen to share part of the same name. Both, in fact, come from the Latin cor?na, meaning “crown.” In the case of coronaviruses, it’s because researchers observed “crown-like spikes” on the surface of the virus, leading to the name. And for the beer, well, the crown is right there on the label, and has been since Corona was first brewed in 1925.

As our Mexican lager blind tasting tournament would indicate, however, the greatest danger inherent in drinking Corona is simply that it’s usually quite skunky. Take our word for it, and reach for a Pacifico instead.