Tesla extends Shanghai plant shutdown amid COVID-19 surge

Tesla over the weekend extended a shutdown of its Shanghai factory plant as COVID-19 cases surge in China.

The Tesla factory halted its car production on Saturday, a day earlier than planned, and will stay closed until Jan. 2, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the Shanghai factory was planning to suspend production of the Model Y for the last week of December.

The Shanghai plant is the most important production factory for Tesla, with the largest share of production volume for the electric vehicle manufacturer.

The factory’s temporary closure should not affect overall production, according to the Journal, largely because demand has slowed and production capacity was boosted over the summer.

The Shanghai plant previously closed earlier this year after COVID-19 infections began surging in China.

A recent wave of COVID-19 is battering China again. The World Health Organization reported more than 20,000 confirmed cases nearly every day last week.

The surge of infections comes after the ruling communist government in China eased up on its “zero COVID” policies, which are criticized as draconian and recently led to mass protests.