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Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla would resume production at its Northern California factory Monday afternoon, defying a local public health order designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” said billionaire CEO tweeted. “I’ll be on the line with everyone else. If someone is arrested, I ask that it be just me. ”
Musk’s announcement followed a weekend of mounting threats from the businessman against the county that houses the only Tesla car factory in the United States, in the city of Fremont. Tesla sued Alameda County on Saturday, alleging that the local public health order violated the California constitution. Musk too threatened move its headquarters and “future programs” to Texas or Nevada “immediately” and suggested that the company cannot continue “retaining Fremont manufacturing”.
Musk has protested for weeks against restrictions in place to mitigate the spread of the virus that has killed nearly 80,000 people in the United States and more than 285,000 people worldwide. The billionaire businessman has become one of the leading providers of disinformation about the virus, regularly promoting false messages about the disease to his more than 34 million followers on Twitter. Musk also appears to lend his voice to the marginal political movement that equates public health measures with government oppression, referring to the refuge orders there as “fascists” and tweeting messages like “FREE AMERICA NOW.”
Musk’s most recent complaint is due to the fact that his factory is located in a part of California that has stricter reopening rules than the rest of the state. On May 7, Governor Gavin Newsom announced rules to allow some manufacturers to reopen on May 8. However, state rules do not replace local restrictions, if stricter, and many of the state’s most populous counties, including seven counties in the San Francisco Bay area, have decided to maintain their stricter rules until late may. .
On Monday, Newsom said during his daily press conference that he did not know that Tesla had reopened but that he had “high expectations that we can work at the county level,” adding: “We look forward to many, many decades of that relationship with Tesla.”
State law allows a fine of up to $ 1,000 per day or up to 90 days in jail for operating in violation of health orders.
Any arrest at the factory is highly unlikely. A Fremont police spokeswoman said the department has yet to issue a single subpoena for violating the city’s coronavirus public health order of approximately 240,000 people, and that “all issues have been mitigated through compliance.”
The spokeswoman referred questions about Tesla to the county public health department. “We enforce the order at the health officer’s address, but we have been told that they are in active talks with Tesla about the safety protocols,” he said. “We have not received any additional information or address.”
The county health department said Monday it was aware that the Tesla factory was operating beyond the “minimum basic operations” allowed, and that it had “notified Tesla” that it could not do so until the company and the County to agree on a safety plan for the reopening.
“We are addressing this issue using the same phased approach that we use for other companies that have violated the order in the past, and we expect Tesla to comply without further enforcement measures as well,” the county said in a statement. statement.
The Tesla plant has been closed since March 23. The factory employs about 10,000 workers. On Monday, the plant’s parking lot was nearly full, sparking speculation that the company planned to challenge the public health order even before Musk’s tweet.
“We are excited to go back to work and have put in place very detailed plans to help you stay safe when you return,” said an email to Tesla employees, according to Reuters.
Tesla says it has safety procedures in place to protect workers, including more cleanliness, applying social distancing, providing face covers and gloves when necessary, installing barriers between workers when necessary, and temperature controls in some places.
Alameda County had recorded 2,101 Covid-19 cases and 71 deaths as of Sunday.
Agencies contributed reports
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