Tesla plant reported hundreds of COVID-19 boxes after reopening

Tesla’s determination to restart EV production at its Fremont plant last May appears to have had some consequences. According Washington Post, PlainSite has obtained Health data from Alameda County shows that the Tesla plant had about 450 cases of COVID-19 between its official reopening in May 2020 and the end of that year. There were 10 or fewer cases in May, but they reached 125 in December, when the winter surge erupted.

It is unclear how many of the cases resulted in hospitalizations or spread in the community, although the county said in June that there were no known cases of infections in factories reaching the general public. The data for 2021 was not shared as we were writing this article, although it may echo the general trends of a sudden increase in January followed by a gradual decline.

The cases represent ‘only’ 4.5 percent of the nearly 10,000 people working at the Fremont site. However, they suggest that workers fell ill in May, when Elon Musk formally reopened the factory in resistance to the county’s blockade measures. They also make it clear that Tesla, like Amazon and other tech giants, routinely fought COVID-19 cases among workers who have no choice but to work on the site.

There have been constant complaints that companies are not accommodating workers who are unable or unwilling to work with the chance of a possible coronavirus infection. Although Tesla told factory workers that they could stay home if they didn’t feel safe to return, reports emerged in early summer that Tesla was laying off employees who refused to attend.

The situation is likely to improve as the tide (hopefully) subsides and more factory workers are vaccinated. Still, this indicates that Tesla’s push for record production numbers in 2020 has had its health costs, and that there is likely to be an additional toll in 2021.