A new hypothesis postulates that stress granules are involved in an integrated stress-innate immunity activation response. In this pathway, viral RNA and proteins, along with host pathogen-sensing factors, such as the dsRNA-binding protein kinase R (PKR) and the RNA helicases retinoic acid-induced gene 1 (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5), can be sequestered in stress granules. Additional insight into the relevance of stress granules and P bodies for the regulation coronavirus RNA synthesis is still required.