Mexico has said it will temporarily stop brewing Corona beer amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Mexican brewing company Grupo Modelo said on Thursday that its business activities were declared non-essential under a government order aimed at curbing the Covid-19 spread.
The brewing group will stop producing Corona beer and other brands exported to 180 countries from Sunday.
It comes as the Mexican government this week declared a health emergency and ordered the suspension of non-essential activities after the number of coronavirus cases in the country surpassed 1,000 and its death toll hit 50.
The brewer said in a statement that it was already in the process of scaling down production to a level at which it could resume once the suspension is lifted.
"If the federal government considers it appropriate to issue some clarification confirming beer as an agro-industrial product, at Grupo Modelo we are ready to execute a plan with more than 75 per cent of our staff working from home and at the same time guaranteeing the supply of beer," the statement said.
Agriculture and food production in general are considered essential activities.
Grupo Modelo, which is part of the brewing group Anheuser-Busch InBev, operates 11 breweries in Mexico.
At the end of February, AB InBev warned of the steepest decline in quarterly profit for at least a decade after the coronavirus outbreak cost it $170 million (£132 million) in lost profit.
AB InBev is the world’s biggest brewing giant and is also behind the Budweiser and Stella Artois brands as well as Corona.
It forecast that its first quarter earnings will tumble by about 10 per cent after the virus first saw demand slump in China.
In January, USA Today reported Google searches in the US for "Corona beer virus" and "beer virus" spiked amid other searches related to "coronavirus symptoms", which saw a 1,050 per cent increase.
