You can’t always get what you want, unless you’re Tesla CEO Elon Musk and you bully state and local officials during a pandemic.
Musk’s Tesla factory in Fremont, California, will be allowed to resume limited operations next week, county officials announced late Tuesday night. Tesla will have to accept local police supervision to ensure social distancing, as well as other safety measures. The previous reopening date set by Alameda County was May 31.
Alameda County Update on Tesla, May 12: We received Tesla’s site-specific Fremont COVID-19 Prevention and Control Plan yesterday as anticipated. A site-specific plan is a part of the Governor’s guidance for reopening manufacturing. pic.twitter.com/KsooDIKUYG
— Alameda County Public Health Department (@Dare2BWell) May 13, 2020
The decision comes after Musk decided to reopen the factory last week after state officials loosened some coronavirus restrictions, specifically for manufacturing.
But Alameda County health officials upheld their lockdown plans through the end of the month, which meant Tesla was defying their orders. Tesla sued, Musk freaked out on Twitter and played the martyr, and President Donald Trump tweeted.
Musk called the Alameda County health officer “unelected & ignorant” during yet another Twitter rant. He went off on the same topic during Tesla’s latest earnings call and Joe Rogan’s podcast. During these various temper tantrums, Musk spread dangerous misinformation about coronavirus.
Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant “Interim Health Officer” of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
Health officials said they met with Tesla reps and came up with a solution to safely partially reopen Monday. Tesla had already prepared a modified operations plan, but will need to adhere to additional safety requirements. This is all contingent on coronavirus rates staying stable or improving.