A new video from the China Global Television Network (CGTN) shows how Tesla helped fight coronavirus in the area where its Gigafactory 3 is located, in the Lingang area of Shanghai in China. Two weeks after Giga Shanghai reopened, there were zero new confirmed cases in Lingang. The video shows how Tesla helped make this happen.
Two weeks after Gigafactory Shanghai was reopened, there were 0 new confirmed cases in Lingang (where the factory is located)
Here's how Tesla made that happen https://t.co/kbdTWiz6G3
— Third Row Tesla Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) March 18, 2020
In the video, Tesla Gigafactory and employees are all wearing masks and protective gear. Red vests for visitors and protective coverings for shoes along with masks, hardhats, and other protective clothing ensure the safety of Tesla’s employees and the visitors to the Gigafactory. “I am armed to the teeth,” says a reporter in the video.
They enter Tesla’s assembly workshop area to shoot videos of employees wearing safety gloves all the way down to their elbows and special N95 masks to protect them as they build vehicles. What really stands out is the mask-disinfecting cabinets. These are located every 200 meters or so in the factory. Every two hours, workers sterilize the stations.
In Tesla’s cafeteria, the reporter says that she felt like she was in an exam while eating because of the rows of cardboard separators fixed to each of the tables to provide sufficient distance between each employee. No one was allowed to sit together due to the social distancing rules in place.
A Shanghai Lingang special area official told CGTN that starting on the first of February, they would go to the Tesla factory every day at 8am. The result of the rigor with which coronavirus was attacked in China led to the rapid containment of the virus and an equally rapid return to work. The video noted that as of February 22, there were zero confirmed COVID-19 cases in the greater Lingang Special Area. Also, 98.7% of enterprises with a production value of more than 100 million yuan have returned to work.
Tesla wasn’t the only one making this happen — the company worked with Chinese officials to ensure the safety of its employees at the Shanghai Gigafactory. Perhaps other companies and governments from around the world can take note of what Tesla did in China to keep its employees safe and contain the virus. In contrast, here in America, our own officials are pointing fingers and politicizing coronavirus and as a result, Americans are divided about the pandemic. Some believe what President Trump said before, that it was a hoax. They go to parties, large events, and bars to get drunk with little to no regard for the safety of themselves or others.
Others stay home and try to lie low while protecting themselves and their families, friends, and communities. Many healthy adults can easily spread the virus for several days before they even show symptoms. However, the divide in our political parties is playing out in communities across the country. While doctors and nurses struggle to treat thousands of patients and beg people to stay home, young partygoers whine and complain about not being able to get drunk at their favorite spring break spots.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not gonna let it stop me from partying,” says Brady Sluder. He, like many others, doesn’t believe coronavirus is a threat. He either doesn’t realize or doesn’t care that it is possible to have coronavirus without showing any symptoms, spreading the virus to numerous people along the way.
“If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying”: Spring breakers are still flocking to Miami, despite coronavirus warnings. https://t.co/KoYKI8zNDH pic.twitter.com/rfPfea1LrC
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 18, 2020
Same Kinsa data, whole US https://t.co/aQoqGhK50q
— Scott Wainner (@scottwww) March 21, 2020
We should all take notes from the measures taken by Tesla and China to stay safe from the virus. Coronavirus is coming and if people would stop being inconsiderate about the lives of others around them, the otherwise deadly effects could be dulled down to a mere annoyance. 2020 could be the year you missed out on the big blockbuster party, or the year that you went to the party, came home, and end up infecting friends and family with a disease that can cause permanent damage or death.
Perhaps this should be a reminder that every action you take — whether choosing to go out to a bar or staying home — affects others. People need to stop being selfish because their actions do affect the lives of those around them.