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Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

washingtonpost.com

71–80 of 111 posts

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#71
post #22

You could pick any large company that reopened and find instances of employees who have the virus. Singling out Tesla is good for clickbait, but why should the Tesla factory stay closed when bars and restaurants in California are allowed to open? This is the new normal. We can't stay in lockdown forever. Jobs deemed "non-essential" by white collar professionals comfortably working from home are pretty essential to th…

Even if a vaccine is developed, is there much reason to think it will stop covid-19? Or will it be like influenza vaccines, where maybe it has some impact but certainly isn't anywhere close to eradicating the disease or even assuring the vaccine recipient of anything? (Apparently flu shots were only 29% effective in 2018.)

I think you're probably right; this is the new normal. Lockdowns will be lifted as people come to accept covid deaths as normalcy, as they already accept influenza deaths, car accidents, etc.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#72

Somewhere in Musk's calculus, he must have determined just how many people can get sick and die without it being too much of a PR problem.

For autopilot it’s around 5. That dangerous fraudulently advertised software should be pulled off the road.

Yes there are warnings not to abuse it, but that flies in the face of the marketing and videos of Musk where he uses autopilot hands-free. Not to mention the laughable promises of full self driving being available anytime soon, which cause customers to overestimate the system’s capability.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#73
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's different if a company re-opened against guidelines and is not considered "essential." Is making a few more cars really that essential? Different companies have different roles to play. And if shutting down non-essentials can reduce the rate of infection, it improve the outcome for _everyone_ afterwards.

> And if shutting down non-essentials can reduce the rate of infection, it improve the outcome for _everyone_ afterwards. For how long? What if there is never a vaccine? Will we hide in our homes forever? There is a reason California is reopening. Lockdowns just can't last forever. We have to move on and do the best we can to live with the virus as a normal part of life, even though it means more people are going to…

> For how long? What if there is never a vaccine? Will we hide in our homes forever? [...] Lockdowns just can't last forever

Indeed. The purpose of the lockdown was to buy us time to build e.g. contract tracing infrastructure, massively expand testing, and develop other means to allow us to reopen safely.

Instead for the most part we've sat on our hands and done very little. Thus we're saying, well, sucks to be us, I guess we have to reopen and let people die.

It didn't have to be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. There is plenty of evidence of this from around the world.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#74
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original article is by a writer of the Washington Post. If this doesn't count as journalism, I struggle to find examples that do. The journalist spoke with two workers within the production facility. "One of the workers said a supervisor confirmed two positive cases to a group at the Fremont-based seat assembly facility" This is an example of just one supervisor confirming two positive cases. It is likely that th…

We’re they confirmed not positive before it reopened? Otherwise, this literally means nothing.

I wouldn't go so far to say it "means nothing".

If they were confirmed not-positive before the reopening how come this information was not publicly made available beforehand? If they weren't tested and then went back to work during the reopening, doesn't this indicate a lack of diligence in screening returning employees?

In any case the main issue is that Musk reopened the plant against local authorities' wishes and thus the consequences of such action should be held under scrutiny.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#75
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original article is by a writer of the Washington Post. If this doesn't count as journalism, I struggle to find examples that do. The journalist spoke with two workers within the production facility. "One of the workers said a supervisor confirmed two positive cases to a group at the Fremont-based seat assembly facility" This is an example of just one supervisor confirming two positive cases. It is likely that th…

We’re they confirmed not positive before it reopened? Otherwise, this literally means nothing.

It means there is coronavirus at the Tesla plant. To give an example which way it goes: in Poland, the virus appeared a few weeks ago between coal mines workers. Yesterday there was a decision to temporarily shut 12 coal mines down.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#76
post #22

You could pick any large company that reopened and find instances of employees who have the virus. Singling out Tesla is good for clickbait, but why should the Tesla factory stay closed when bars and restaurants in California are allowed to open? This is the new normal. We can't stay in lockdown forever. Jobs deemed "non-essential" by white collar professionals comfortably working from home are pretty essential to th…

Even if a vaccine is developed, is there much reason to think it will stop covid-19? Or will it be like influenza vaccines, where maybe it has some impact but certainly isn't anywhere close to eradicating the disease or even assuring the vaccine recipient of anything? (Apparently flu shots were only 29% effective in 2018.) I think you're probably right; this is the new normal. Lockdowns will be lifted as people come…

There may never be a vaccine. We should operate under the assumption that there is a good chance one will be ready in a year or so, but that timeline makes it clear that we can't remain in lockdown.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean where Musk is basically saying “please don’t hold my demands of my workers against them. Punish me instead, please?”

Ah yes, there's the standard HN mental gymnastics to defend Musk.

Actually, that was a literal interpretation of his words.

You characterizing that literal interpretation as "mental gymnastics" is itself a form of mental gymnastics (more properly, excessive heuristic activity in the subconscious, and a lack of corresponding conscious awareness of these processes, or something along those lines).

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could not agree more. I do not understand why this is not more widely understood.

It's different if a company re-opened against guidelines and is not considered "essential." Is making a few more cars really that essential? Different companies have different roles to play. And if shutting down non-essentials can reduce the rate of infection, it improve the outcome for _everyone_ afterwards.

A job might not be essential to society, but it is very essential for those who rely on that income.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#79
post #73
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And if shutting down non-essentials can reduce the rate of infection, it improve the outcome for _everyone_ afterwards. For how long? What if there is never a vaccine? Will we hide in our homes forever? There is a reason California is reopening. Lockdowns just can't last forever. We have to move on and do the best we can to live with the virus as a normal part of life, even though it means more people are going to…

> For how long? What if there is never a vaccine? Will we hide in our homes forever? [...] Lockdowns just can't last forever Indeed. The purpose of the lockdown was to buy us time to build e.g. contract tracing infrastructure, massively expand testing, and develop other means to allow us to reopen safely. Instead for the most part we've sat on our hands and done very little. Thus we're saying, well, sucks to be us, I…

> It didn't have to be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. There is plenty of evidence of this from around the world.

But it is this way, so what's your point?

We can wish all we want for things to be better, but we have to start reopening no matter what. The economy will collapse if we don't. We are out of time.

Re: Fremont Tesla workers tested positive for coronavirus days after plant reopened

#80
post #37
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 2 cases is only in the days after the factory re-opened. You're comparing apples and oranges here.

ok, even if we suppose that it were absolutely brand new cases - Alameda county has added ~1300 cases since Tesla opened May 18. Still almost an order of magnitude difference.

That's a different time period than quoted in the article.
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