Elon said they have been able to reopen safely in China, and that zero of their 7,000 employees there have died of Corona.<p>Joe Rogan challenged him on this, asking “how can you trust the Chinese media”?<p>Elon’s answer: We don’t have to rely on the media. We know how many people we have. We have to; we do payroll.<p>He has a point. And zero is a pretty good number.<p>If they know how to do it in China, they can apply those same safety measures elsewhere. I wish he would also acknowledge family spread and fatalities if there are any, because that can also be a thing. But still, hard news, this is something we are going to have to live with for a while. And they are managing it pretty well in one factory at least.<p>Also if you haven’t ever been to a Tesla factory... it’s not a place where people are crammed together by any means. It’s vast. Workers are quite spread out for the most part.
I have been wondering for a while what the legal mechanism for shutting down businesses in the US actually is. I'm not being snarky, I just literally don't understand the legal mechanism.<p>Prior to this crisis I would not have thought shutting down businesses at large scale would be possible without legislation. But I haven't heard of much legislative proceedings.<p>Have governor's and local officials always had very broad powers over people and businesses, they just never used it at scale until the pandemic? I understand if there is a disaster and you can't convene the legislature fast enough to respond, and you need 72 hours of time to let the legislature come together (for example an earthquake or terrorist event). But there has been plenty of time now for our normal legislative process to resume. Does this have to do with an emergency declaration? Is there a limit to how long an emergency can be declared (like 60 days of a year)?
Does anyone actually know what Alameda re-opening criteria the Tesla plan doesn't satisfy?<p><a href="https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/Tesla-Return-to-Work-Playbook.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/T...</a>
When the China plant reopened, how many new cases a day were being reported in that plant’s city? I was under the impression that China didn’t reopen until the detected new infection rate was zero.
Given the good Tesla does environment-wise, I'd favor letting them re-open.<p>Musk sure knows how to get people's attention. Maybe he's got a future in politics.