In news that should surprise no one, workers at the Tesla factory reportedly have the coronavirus. Two anonymous workers told the Washington Post that “several cases” of Covid-19 had been confirmed at both the company’s Fremont, California, production plant and nearby at its smaller seat-assembly factory. Musk very publicly defied local officials when reopening his factories a few weeks ago.
Tesla has not yet confirmed the report, and the company did not respond to Recode’s request for comment. The Washington Post also did not say how serious the cases were or specify how many workers contracted the virus or when.
Additionally, the electric transportation site Electrek reported that four Tesla workers tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday alone. Electrek quotes an anonymous Tesla employee for the update and also was not able to get Tesla to confirm the cases.
It’s a bad look for Tesla and for Musk, the company’s founder and CEO. The company closed its factories in March after disagreements with the local Alameda County sheriff and the Fremont Police Department. There was then a fight to reopen the factories in May, when Musk defied local health officials, Tesla sued Alameda County, and then the factories just reopened before being given the blessing to resume operations in defiance of Alameda County health orders last month. The lawsuit was later dropped.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/9/21285625/coronavirus-tesla-elon-musk-fremont-factory