After weathering much of the storm brought on by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, Tesla Inc. looked to restart its production efforts at their Gigafactory located in Fremont, California. As shelter in place orders relax to begin revamping the economy in California and elsewhere, it looked as though Tesla would be clear to resume work. However, due to restrictions by local government authorities in Alameda County, Tesla’s production remains suspended.
The Gigafactory in Fremont has been closed for nearly eight weeks at this point. While closed for major production, the factories kept a small staff on hand to perform minimum operations. When California Governor Gavin Newsom made announcements about reopening on Twitter, Tesla’s prospects looked positive.
According to a source at Los Angeles Times, the county has yet to clear Tesla for full resumed production. In their statement they said, “Tesla “must not reopen,” the county said in a statement early Friday afternoon. “Restoring all daily activities too soon risks a rapid spike in cases and would jeopardize the relative stability we’ve seen in our health and hospital system.”
The state wide orders announced by Gavin Newsom allowed some businesses to reopen. However, these orders covered essential services. Under the orders, individual counties have the sovereignty to enforce their own restrictions on businesses. Tesla’s California factory remains closed until further notice.
