California county says Tesla factory cannot operate normally in coronavirus shutdown

By Tina Bellon

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc cannot operate its main U.S. vehicle factory normally as the San Francisco Bay Area has begun a three-week lockdown to rein in the spread of coronavirus, a spokesman for the county’s sheriff’s office said on Tuesday.

“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,” the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)