Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Framing Theory, this study compared the metaphors used in the news headlines on COVID-19 in People’s Daily and The New York Times in 2021. Then it revealed how COVID-19 was framed in the mainstream Chinese and American media and analyzed the similarities and differences in thinking and cognition behind it. It turns out that both Chinese and American news headlines use war metaphors, travel metaphors and architectue metaphors, which shows that China and the United States have similar war culture, and both imply that to conquer COVID-19 is a long process. Nevertheless, the difference is that Chinese media views COVID-19 holistically, while western media views it concretely. Besides, Chinese headlines tend to use positive expressions to arouse the collectivism and resonate with the readers to mobilize their enthusiasm for action, which are more acceptable. While English titles only describe objective situation without conveying any confidence to overcome the pandemic, which reveals the uncertainty of the result.