Coronavirus 'exposure' spike at Tesla Fremont factory: Report
Leaks reportedly show more than 130 positive cases, 1,550 exposures among workers
Tesla has reportedly experienced a spike in coronavirus exposure among employees at its Fremont Factory in California.
More than 130 Tesla workers, plus a dozen contractors and temporary employees, have tested positive for COVID-19, industry news website Electrek reported, citing leaked internal data from the Palo Alto, California-based electric automaker.
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| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 357.09 | +11.93 | +3.46% |
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More than 1,550 employees have also been “affected” by COVID-19 cases, meaning they’ve been exposed to other workers with the virus, according to the report. Most of them have not been tested or the company doesn’t know whether they’ve been tested.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to questions from FOX Business.
A masked man walks in the Tesla plant parking lot Monday, May 11, 2020, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
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The report comes after Tesla Fremont employees returned to work in May over the objections of local health officials. CEO Elon Musk had threatened to sue the county and move Tesla out of the state when health officials didn’t clear the factory to reopen amid the pandemic.
Musk tweeted at the time that “Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County.” The company reportedly instituted social distancing and other coronavirus safety measures when reopening the facility.
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More than 10,000 employees work at the Fremont factory, according to Tesla.
“Exposure” among Fremont Tesla employees has spiked during the past two weeks, Electrek reported.
Tesla has been telling employees who test positive to stay home for 10 days after testing and at least three days after recovering, according to the report. Employees who test negative can return to work 24 hours after being fever-free.
People enter the Tesla Inc. assembly plant in Fremont, California, on Monday, May 11, 2020. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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There have been more than 329,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7,000 deaths in California, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that everyone should wash their hands often, avoid close contact, wear a cloth face cover when around others, cover coughs and sneezes and frequently clean and disinfect surfaces in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
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