Tesla restarts production in California, despite Alameda County's shelter-in-place order

Over the weekend, Tesla began producing cars again at its plant in Fremont, California, despite Alameda County's shelter-in-place orders put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Verge reports.

Two Tesla employees told The Verge that some workers were called in, and they have finished about 200 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles. The facility closed on March 23, just a few days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that there would "probably" be "close to zero new cases" of COVID-19 in the United States by the end of April. There are more than 1.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, with the death toll reaching 80,297, data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center shows.

On Saturday, Musk threatened to move the company's operations to another state after Alameda County health officials warned Tesla about reopening amid the pandemic. Tesla then sued the county, seeking an injunction over the stay-at-home order. Scott Haggerty, an Alameda County supervisor, told The New York Times health officials had been working with Tesla and they were close to reaching an agreement to reopen the facility on May 18.

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On Monday afternoon, Musk tweeted, "Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me." One factory employee told The Verge they refused to go to work, because they are crammed next to others in close quarters. "We get lured in by the 'Tesla dream' of saving the planet only to get treated so poorly that even though I love my job, I'm not willing to risk my health for him," they said.