While the White House coronavirus task force warned Congress of dire consequences should states reopen for business too soon, the president tweeted support Tuesday for lockdown rebel Elon Musk, the CEO who has defied local orders and put Tesla back to work.
“California should let Tesla & Elon Musk open the plant, NOW,” Donald Trump posted on Twitter. “It can be done Fast & Safely!”
Musk restarted production at Tesla’s Bay Area production facility on Monday, violating orders from the Alameda County Public Health Department to suspend operations of nonessential business, The Associated Press reported.
“Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me,” Musk tweeted.
The county warned Tesla and expressed hope that the car and energy manufacturer would “comply without further enforcement measures,” the AP reported.
The president’s Tuesday morning tweet came as health experts from his administration told the Senate that reopening quickly is likely to cause new coronavirus spikes that could become outbreaks if not properly controlled.
“The consequences could be really serious” if the nation opens up too fast, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, according to the AP. The infectious disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force warned that communities need to be prepared to treat new cases that will inevitably appear as cities and states get back to business as usual.
Fauci testified remotely from isolation due to an outbreak at the White House.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield told lawmakers “we are not out of the woods yet,” The New York Times reported.
Redford said that at the beginning of the pandemic the CDC was able to able to manage effective contract tracing — mapping and tracking the spread of the coronavirus — but as more and more Americans tested positive for COVID-19, they were no longer able to meet capacity. “We lost containment,” he said.
Tesla is not the only company to resist health guidelines.
This weekend, a California cardiologist posted a photo on Twitter of a full United Airlines flight this weekend that quickly went viral. The doctor was returning from the coronavirus epicenter of New York City, where he had volunteered to help.
After the photo sparked public outcry, the airline started allowing travelers to rebook or receive travel credit if their flight is at near-to-full capacity, The Washington Post reported.