--- title: "As Coronavirus Rages, Elon Musk Refuses to Close Tesla Factory" description: "Even amid a Bay Area lockdown, enigmatic Tesla CEO Elon Musk refuses to shut down the carmaker's Fremont automobile factory." date: "2020-03-17" modified: "2020-03-17" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/coronavirus-rages-elon-musk-refuses-close-tesla-factory" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # As Coronavirus Rages, Elon Musk Refuses to Close Tesla Factory ![Even amid a Bay Area lockdown, enigmatic Tesla CEO Elon Musk refuses to shut down the carmaker's Fremont automobile factory.]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Elon Defiant Much of the Bay Area is now under a "shelter in place" lockdown due to the coronavirus, meaning residents [aren't allowed to go out]() unless it's absolutely necessary. One exception, the [*Los Angeles Times* reports](), is electric carmaker Tesla, which has thus far kept its Fremont factory open. CEO Elon Musk did back down slightly by Monday night, telling employees in a mass email they can stay home if they feel sick. "If you feel the slightest bit ill or even uncomfortable, please do not feel obligated to come to work," he wrote, according to the *Times.* ## Essential Business The *Times* reports that Alameda County has classified Tesla as an "essential business," meaning it's allowed to keep operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. But pressed on why the carmaker's work is essential, the county struggled to answer. "That’s a good question," a spokesperson told the paper. "We’re in uncharted waters right now.” ## Under Play Musk has expressed skepticism about the coronavirus several times now. In early March, he [mused on Twitter]() that the "coronavirus panic is dumb." Musk also, in a separate email earlier this week, [told workers]() that the "risk of death from C19 is vastly less than the risk of death from driving your car home." Even in his Monday night email, Musk couldn't resist playing down the virus one more time. "My frank opinion remains that the harm from the coronavirus panic far exceeds that of the virus itself," he [wrote](). **READ MORE:** [Stay home if you want, Musk tells Tesla workers as Fremont plant stays open]() \[*Los Angeles Times*\] **More on Starships:** *[Elon Musk Tweets Vid of Starship Crumpling Up Like a Soda Can]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()