Tesla halts car production at its California and NY plants because of coronavirus

Tesla announced Thursday it’s suspending production at its California and New York factories in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have decided to temporarily suspend production at our factory in Fremont, from end of day March 23, which will allow an orderly shutdown,” the company said in a news release.

Production at the New York factory will also temporarily be halted “except for those parts and supplies necessary for service, infrastructure and critical supply chains,” according to the release.

San Francisco Bay Area counties issued lockdown orders, effective until April 7, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Alameda County officials said on Tuesday that Tesla’s operations were not “an essential business function,” but business continued as usual, according to The Mercury News.

Valerie Workman, Tesla’s human relations director, said in an email to workers earlier this week that they “should continue to report to work if you are in an essential function: production, service, deliveries, testing and supporting groups as discussed with your manager,” according to The Mercury News.

More than a dozen Tesla workers at the Fremont factory told the Los Angeles Times that they were “afraid to risk infection if they came to work” and were “afraid they’d lose their job if they didn’t.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Tesla halts car production at its California and NY plants because of coronavirus."