The show Musk go on: Tesla defies SIlicon Valley coronavirus lockdown order, keeps Fremont factory open
- Reference: 1584573963
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/18/tesla_coronavirus_lockdown/
- Source link:
Alameda County, where the factory is located, is among several California counties – San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, and Sonoma – that this week issued a [1]shelter-in-place order to mitigate the spread of the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus.
The legally enforceable order instructs all “non-essential” businesses to close, and all residents to self isolate at home, until April 7: folks are allowed out, for example, to stock up on groceries, show up to work at essential organizations, such as police and fire departments, and get exercise and fresh air, with caveats.
However, bars, cafes, hairdressers, and clubs must shut, restaurants be delivery-only, gatherings are banned, and so on. If you can work from home, you work from home. The streets of San Francisco are quiet.
Breaking the order is a misdemeanor crime, though the cops have said they'll only cite someone as a last resort.
Under the order, automakers such as Tesla aren’t considered essential. The Alameda County Sheriff confirmed this on Twitter, and said the biz could only maintain “minimum basic operations”:
Tesla: [2]@Tesla is not an essential business as defined in the Alameda County Health Order. Tesla can maintain minimum basic operations per the Alameda County Health Order. — Alameda County Sheriff (@ACSOSheriffs) [3]March 17, 2020
The [4]order [PDF] defines “minimum basic operations” as:
The minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of the business’s inventory, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits, or for related functions.
The minimum necessary activities to facilitate employees of the business being able to continue to work remotely from their residences.
An internal memo sent to all Tesla employees, however, stated the biz had received “conflicting guidance from different levels of government” as to whether its Fremont plant should close or not. The [5]email , seen by CNBC, said only “essential employees” should go into work. That included folks working in production, service, deliveries, and testing.
If employees did not belong to any of those groups, they may be redirected to temporarily work in those essential areas and should expect to be on call. Only those who are sick should stay at home. On the other hand, Tesla is winding down its operations to 2,500 employees from its usual 10,000, [6]according to Buzzfeed.
Tesla’s decision to defy local government orders isn’t too surprising, considering its CEO’s attitude to COVID-19:
The coronavirus panic is dumb — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [7]March 6, 2020
A few days ago, he [8]added : “Fear is the mind-killer.”
The Health Officer of Alameda County said anyone caught violating the order can be fined $50 to $1,000, imprisoned for up to 90 days, or both, under the [9]law .
As of March 18, the Alameda County Public Health Department has [10]reported 31 cases of COVID-19.
Tesla and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately available for comment. ®
Speaking of the coronavirus... Elsewhere in America, away from the San Francisco Bay Area near-lockdown, Best Buy's Geek Squad techies are still visiting people's homes to carry out PC repairs, including the homes of folks particularly susceptible to coronavirus – the elderly – which is worrying staff mindful of the ongoing pandemic, [11]Motherboard reports .
[1] https://sf.gov/stay-home-except-essential-needs
[2] https://twitter.com/Tesla?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://twitter.com/ACSOSheriffs/status/1240062681635123201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[4] http://www.acgov.org/documents/Final-Order-to-Shelter-In-Place.pdf
[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/tesla-hr-memo-essential-employees-should-still-come-to-work.html
[6] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/tesla-fremont-factory-stays-open-coronavirus-sheriff
[7] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1236029449042198528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[8] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1239031946962808832
[9] https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/health-and-safety-code/hsc-sect-120295.html
[10] http://www.acphd.org/2019-ncov.aspx
[11] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5x3d9/geek-squad-in-home-agents-fear-coronavirus-elderly
Re: Ffs...
Or is that "when manufacturing and product becomes religion"?
cf. Apple.
> The coronavirus panic is dumb
> Fear is the mind-killer
Erm, so what? Panicking is always dumb and fear is the mind killer.
Doesn't mean he doesn't consider the virus a serious concern.
Panic is what is causing morons to buy hundreds of loo rolls, jars of jam and flour, enough to last a sane family for a year.
"causing morons to buy hundreds of loo rolls"
My idiot neighbor has half of a two car garage stacked head-high with bog roll. I just drove by, and he's unloading a 14" Penski rental truck full of more (in the rain). Gawd/ess only knows where he is finding the stuff ... or when he'll finally figure he has enough. No, it's not for sale. I asked to buy a package. He claims he needs it all "just in case".
The same neighbor has no food in the house. The mind absolutely boggles.
My thoughts entirely. If you're not eating, you won't need loo roll.
Unless you're eating the loo roll . . .
Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
But it's hardly worth the panic that the media has managed to whip up.
Re: Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
@jake: I agree. To me, it feels as if there is something missing from the narrative. This bug is nasty, but the reaction is more appropriate to something with very high transmissibility and a >20% death toll and equivalent long-term morbidity across the population. I know young, for, healthy people who are isolating themselves and their children "in case they get it". Who benefits from this sort of misinformation that leads to panic? Governments, who were/are increasingly in fear of backlash especially in Europe and the USA.
(Wanders off muttering about risk illiteracy and becoming a conspiracy theorist...)
Re: Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
The spread amongst the young and healthy might not directly affect them, but it does affect those amongst us with lowered immune systems, or respiratory illnesses, or the elderly.
Coordinated isolation isn’t a ridiculous response, but we should probably be coordinating that response wider than just the bay area!
Re: Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
I'm in the Bay Area. It's not exactly what I would call "coordinated isolation". The authorities are calling it "shelter in place". For rather small values of place. Read it for yourself here: [1]https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/sites/default/files/Files/Shelter%20in%20Place/Shelter%20in%20Place%20Order%2016%20March%202020.pdf .
Yes, the streets are quiet. But that won't last a week. Why not? Because if you read the above, people are allowed to pretty much do everything they have always done in their day to day lives, So they will. They are people, that's what people do.
The exception is activities where one is in close proximity to multiple people who are not members of their immediate household. And "multiple" seems to be fairly arbitrary. So there is no real isolation at all, despite what the news may be trying to sell you.
Yes, bars are closed. Gyms are closed. Tasting rooms are closed. Restaurant dining rooms are closed. Tourist attractions are closed. Schools are closed. Places of worship are closed ("voluntarily", of course, to stop the fundie howlers from howling).
But pretty much everything else? Have at it. You can still get restaurant food to go. Shops are mostly open for food and sundries. Hardware stores are open. Feed stores are open. Most automotive mechanics and parts stores are open. You can call or visit a plumber, electrician, HVAC, small appliance, pool etc. specialist & get service. Gas stations are open. You can visit parks. Joggers are out jogging. Dog walkers are walking dogs. Surfers are surfing. Skiers are skiing. Subaru owners are driving badly. Bicyclistotards are doing everything they possibly can to piss off drivers. etc. etc.
The police are not even going to enforce what little "the rules" have to say on the subject. Rather, they are going to take an advisory roll. This has been repeated ad nauseam on the news for the last couple days.
So for the entire Bay Area, speaking as an eyewitness, this entire isolation thing is lip-service at best, and complete fabrication/misdirection at worst. Somebody's playing games, and I'm not sure who ... but I suspect it has something to do with the coming November 3rd.
May you live in interesting times ...
[1] https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/sites/default/files/Files/Shelter%20in%20Place/Shelter%20in%20Place%20Order%2016%20March%202020.pdf
Re: Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
there is something missing from the narrative
If you adopt an entirely amoral perspective, then you could argue it's not a serious problem. You dig a series of large holes and as the (mostly) economically inactive people become very sick, you throw them in. In a couple of months, it's over and the rest of us get back to our normal lives.
If you feel a moral compulsion to attempt to treat people who are seriously ill then it becomes a real problem to match need and resources. If you do nothing to stop tens or hundreds of thousands of people becoming sick almost simultaneously it's ethically much the same as if you choose not to treat them at all.
It's not the risk to individuals that's the problem per se, but the risk of so many individuals becoming ill at the same time that the low individual risk still results in overwhelming consequences. The dilemma is that avoiding overwhelming consequences has overwhelming consequences of a different kind.
Re: Yes, it can kill people, it's true.
I live in Spain, we are in lockdown but there is no actual panic.
People are generally playing by the new rules and staying home, but the shops are full of all the normal stuff and nobody is filling trolleys with bog roll.
So far there have been 500 deaths with the fatality rate increasing by the day. This in what is officially the healthiest country in Europe with one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
So a total lockdown is not an over reaction, if fact anything less would be criminally negligent.
"> The coronavirus panic is dumb > Fear is the mind-killer"
The quote carries on, something like "Coronavirus is the little-death that brings total obliteration to your granny." Something like that.
Could be worse
We all know Musk is a slave driver but people have to be there to make cars. What's Charter's excuse for banning working from home?
Elonian logic
Like Donald, Elon believes that if he says it, it must be right. If he says something different in a few days, that also must be right. And he will still insist that his first statement wasn't wrong.
It isn't fake news, it's magical thinking by people who believe they are smarter than the experts and the rest of us.
Either start manufacturing healthcare goods like respirators like ford or Honda UK or shutdown.
Will we have to send them our pot and pans, and cut down our steel railings? When does 'Dig for Victory' start?
"Billy: There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die."
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-elon-musk-coronavirus-ventilators-fremont-factory/
Pointless
People in food supply, shipping, and manufacturing are still working while Covid-19 appears to survive for days on surfaces. Getting sick at home seems easy.
I'm not a huge fan of Musk, but he's right, the panic over Covid-19 is dumb.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be cautious or that we shouldn't be following the restrictions, but the complete plonkers cleaning out the shops and generally behaving like morons is dumb.
Simple question
Will he be working at home, or will he be going into the office and mixing with all the others who need to be there?
Re: Simple question
He has explicit said, and I quote, "I for one will be coming into work"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8122185/Elon-Musk-says-sick-staff-stay-home-going-work-day.html
Re: Simple question
He won't be taking any risk parking in his private spot, going in through probably a private entrance, and sitting in his private office. It will be all the people on the factory floor that won't be able to maintain appropriate distance from each other at all times, will be touching the same stuff etc. that will get them sick.
If one of his employees catches it and dies, Tesla will be sued into the ground, and deserve it.
Re: Simple question
"If one of his employees catches it and dies" if they are of working age and healthy, they are highly unlikely to die or even need to be in hospital.
If they are over 65, then yes, they should stay home. The long term economic damage and hyper inflation that's coming our way will kill more people of working age than the virus ever will.
The reality is that governments are doing this to protect the elderly, however many of the elderly are shrugging their shoulders and think its an overreaction.
15% mortality rate in the over 70s. If you're not bothered if you get it and you're over 65, that's fine, just don't call an ambulance when you can't cope, as it's no fair on the people who are bothered!
Re: Simple question
Every old person I have spoke to said it is an overreaction and they don't see themselves as high risk.
I think you summed it up though. Old people, ask yourself, would I call an ambulance and take up a bed if I was dieing from it? If yes, then self isolate and take it seriously.
Interesting that Quach failed to even mention the fact that just two days ago Elon sent a mail to his employees which said that at this point in time, work is effectively voluntary. If any staff feel sick or even just worried about the CV19, they don't need to come in...
Still, generally, when Quach writes about Tesla it's negative, so no real surprise. Seems their investigative skill is limited to scouring twitter...
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-elon-musk-tesla-workers-can-stay-home-covid-19-2020-3
Yeah, voluntary
In the same way it was voluntary in a certain dilbert episode...
If you voluntarily don't come into work *because sensible*, you've volunteered to be sacked shortly afterwards.
The man is a sociopath and the world would be a much better place if he wasn't in it for so many reasons, this electric car bullshit not the least of them.
Look up John Cadogan - electric cars - YouTube for why they're the shittiest idea since humanity evolved.
Re: Yeah, voluntary
"The man is a sociopath and the world would be a much better place if he wasn't in it for so many reasons"
He certainly is a sociopath, I can agree with you on that, but he is getting things done.
" this electric car bullshit not the least of them.
Look up John Cadogan - electric cars - YouTube for why they're the shittiest idea since humanity evolved."
Do you love breathing in diesel particles?
Do you love your economic prosperity being at the whim of OPEC members?
Re: Yeah, voluntary
"...Do you love your economic prosperity being at the whim of OPEC members?...
I don't disagree with your comments, but this comment can also apply to rare earth materials used in e.g. battery technology. Where are the majority of them sourced from?
Ffs...
When employment meets becomes slavery