Elon Musk’s Tesla has halted all work at its factory in Shanghai for two days. The company sent out an internal notice to workers and suppliers about the shutdown on Wednesday, reported Reuters after reviewing the notice.
While no reason was given in the notice, the shutdown comes amid rising COVID-19 cases in China. Shanghai, in particular, has been witnessing an increasing number of cases and has asked individuals to stay at home or workplaces for the next 2-14 days as health authorities carry out mass testing of the populace and contact tracing.
Similar measures across the country, including the economically important areas like Shenzen have resulted in the closure of several other factories.
Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 produced its Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover SUV. The factory produces vehicles both for the domestic and export markets. The factory is a major export hub for Germany. The Gigafactory 3 was able to deliver a total of 56,515 vehicles in February, including 33,315 for export, according to the China Passenger Car Association, amounting to an average of over 2,000 cars being delivered a day.
In another notice, Tesla has instructed its suppliers to make arrangements for workers to live, sleep and eat at the factories in line with China’s “closed-loop management” process, which was used by Foxconn on its Shenzhen factory, reported Reuters. The note also asks suppliers to inform Tesla about estimates on the number of workers needed for full production capacity and details regarding worker availability due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)
