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Tesla workers test positive for COVID-19 after Musk opens plant against orders – report

Workers at a Tesla production facility in Fremont, California tested positive for COVID-19 last month, insiders have told The Washington Post.


Employees divulged the information about two confirmed COVID-19 cases at the Tesla plant on condition of anonymity, due to fear of company retaliation.

Elon Musk defied public health orders and opened the plant in May, a week before coming to an agreement with local government.

The agreement stated that Tesla must report all known cases of the coronavirus to officials, but the electric car maker was only required to report such cases after the agreement had been signed.

 

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It's understood the two COVID-19 cases were discovered prior to the arrangement being finalised with county officials.

A condition of the agreement was that workers must practice social distancing, but a source inside the Tesla plant was quoted as saying: “[there was] no social distancing at all when clocking in/out [because] people are … in a hurry to go home or get back to their work station”.

The Tesla factory in Fremont was closed by public health officials in late March due to COVID-19 restrictions, but in May Elon Musk threatened to move the facility to Texas or Nevada, before defying orders and reopening the plant.

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Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than two decades. Ben began writing professionally more than 15 years ago and was previously an interstate truck driver. He completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021 and is considered an expert on classic car investment.

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