Of Course Elon Musk’s Fremont Tesla Factory Had A COVID Outbreak
The highest-paid and most evil tech CEO Elon Musk has long been a coronavirus downplayer and denier. And when shelter-in-place was declared in March 2020, Musk refused to shut down the Tesla plant in Fremont, even though it was not an essential business, and Alameda County demanded he temporarily shut it down. Musk of course declined to comply with public health orders and filed a lawsuit against the county, and Alameda County officials backed off and let him reopen the plant in May.
Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020
You will not be shocked to hear what has happened since. According to a new report in the Washington Post, “around 450 total reported cases” have been reported at that plant since it reopened.
New! From the Alameda County Department of Public Health, one year after our initial request, a single table summarizing how many COVID-19 reports the Department received from the $TSLA Fremont factory.
Note, it only started keeping track in May and it stops in December 2020. pic.twitter.com/MOnzQwCRFS
— PlainSite (@PlainSite) March 13, 2021
It’s actually at least 440 COVID-19 cases that hit that Tesla plant, many of them in the heavy-outbreak months of November and December 2020. The data comes from a news organization called Plainsite, following a court ruling in 2020 that the data had to be made public.
Hmmm wonder what he’s trying to distract from https://t.co/NNyi7sK4UN pic.twitter.com/MnCBFNTclg
— Ryan Mac🙃 (@RMac18) March 15, 2021
Unsurprisingly, Tesla also fired everyone who was not comfortable working at a COVID-19 hotspot. According to the Post, Tesla “had promised [workers] they could remain home if they felt uncomfortable returning to the line. The Post reported in late June and July that workers concerned about COVID exposure received termination notices after they did not return to work.”
Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020
There are normally about 10,000 employees working at the Fremont Tesla factory, though it’s unclear how many are working there now under the current restrictions.