The Tesla factory in Shanghai will remain closed for another day as the city deals with strict lockdown measures caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases, Bloomberg first reported. In a company memo obtained by Bloomberg, Tesla reportedly urged employees to stay home Sunday to comply with the city’s COVID restrictions.
A previous report by Reuters suggested that Tesla resumed production at the Shanghai plant on Monday, 4. However, workers in the eastern part of the city — where Tesla’s factory is located — are still facing COVID-related movement restrictions, and there’s no word on when the city plans to lift them.
Tesla first closed its Shanghai plant on March 28
Tesla first closed its plant on March 28, the start of the city’s two-stage lockdown, and initially aimed to keep the factory closed for just four days. From Monday the factory will be closed for a week. Tesla previously closed the Shanghai plant for two days in mid-March due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The Shanghai factory is Tesla’s largest, producing around 6,000 Model 3 vehicles and 10,000 Model Y vehicles each week, according to Reuters. On Saturday, Tesla reported a record 310,048 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2022, although Tesla CEO Elon Musk canceled it due to described supply chain disruptions and the shutdown of the Shanghai plant as an “exceptionally” difficult quarter. Tesla will open a new plant in Austin, Texas this week and also a plant in Berlin, Germany last month.