Production of the popular Mexican beer brand Corona has halted amid the coronavirus outbreak.

According to British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail, Grupo Modelo (the brewery which brews Corona lager, as well as Modelo, and Pacífico) made the decision after a recent government order declared the company's business activities 'non-essential.'

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After the Mexican government declared the COVID-19 virus to be a national health emergency, the brewery issued a statement which read: "We are in the process of lowering production at our plants to the bare minimum."

Per The Mail, the company added: "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."

According to a report by The Independent, Corona faced its worst quarter in 10 years this year amid the pandemic.

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Commenting on the poor performance, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch In Bev (which owns Grupo Model as a subsidiary) stated: "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."

He added: "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."

At the time of writing, there have now been over one million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across 114 countries worldwide, and a total of 44,156 deaths, according to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. Of these, 1,510 infectees have been Mexican and 50 people have died.

Corona beer production halted amid coronavirus pandemic