We¡¯ve been seeing Elon Musk's lax attitude towards the COVID-19 outbreak that has shaken the entire world.
So much so, that it had been running its Tesla car factories in Fremont, LA,? even after authorities had mandated people to stay at home to prevent spreading and contraction of the novel coronavirus.?
However, this didn¡¯t go for long, as on Tuesday, the Alameda County Sheriff Sgt. Ray Kelly ordered Tesla to shut its full-scale operations and carry out minimum-basic operations.
According to laws in the US, it is up to businesses to determine if they fall under the category of ¡®essential¡¯. And Elon thought its factories making electric cars very well fit in this category, putting thousands of its employees at risk.
According to Shawn Wilson, chief of staff to Scott Haggerty, the Alameda County supervisor, ¡°Businesses are asked to comply.¡± And while there are some businesses that require to run despite the condition -- banks, grocery stores, police, court etc. However, some businesses try to find loopholes, and that can be problematic.?
According to the order, Tesla is asked to shut its full-scale operations for next three weeks.?his shutdown order came at a really wrong time for Tesla when its stock prices came from $900 in February to at an all-time low of $430. Recently it made its 1 millionth car and sold 4000 cars last month -- especially at a time when the automotive industry is trying to keep up.?
Even though Musk had been very vocal about COVID-19 and how the panic is dumb, he hasn¡¯t given any public statement with respect to the stay-at-home order. Tesla has also not revealed why its factories were open on Tuesday or whether they¡¯ll be paying their workers who didn¡¯t come in.
Whatever the case may be, looks like Tesla has no option but to comply with this order. Failure in compliance is a misdemeanour, punishable by fine and imprisonment.