Storey County: Tesla Gigafactory to Reduce Staff in Coming Days

UPDATE: In an email sent to us by a Tesla employee from their direct supervisor, Tesla states that an employee at Nevada's Gigafactory has tested positive for COVID-19. 

The email says that the employee was "onsite at the Gigafactory on March 21st and went home after feeling ill."

That employee remained at home, was tested for the virus and was confirmed to have coronavirus.

The email says Tesla has "notified anyone who came into direct contact with the employee and have asked them to self-quarantine." The email also says anyone who was not notified can "continue working normally, as long as you feel well."

The email also says that "we (Tesla) have already taken all cleaning steps as recommended by the CDC and other health organizations."

Storey County Manager Austin Osborne says that Tesla will be reducing staff "by roughly 75% in the coming days" at Nevada's Gigafactory in response to the current global pandemic.

Osborne also says that other companies the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center are "taking the COVID-19 matter seriously" by "checking employee temperatures, creating central access, allowing remote work, maintaining workstation distance" among other precautions. 

Previously, Tesla had said that it would keep Nevada's Gigafactory open, but suspend operations in Fremont and Buffalo, except for those parts and supplies necessary for service, infrastructure and critical supply chains.

This week, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Tesla founder Elon Musk had donated hundreds of ventilators to help health care workers. 

"Elon Musk, how about this?" Newsom said. "I told you a few days ago that he was likely to have a thousand ventilators this week. They arrived in Los Angeles and [Musk] is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real time. It's a heroic effort."

Earlier this month, Musk tweeted "the coronavirus panic is dumb" but later said his company could help, saying he would start making ventilators "if there is a shortage."

TRIC also contains distribution centers for Walmart, Petsmart and Home Depot, among others.