Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is reportedly threatening to pull his factory and headquarters out of California, The Guardian reports, saying health authorities have gone overboard in their coronavirus protection measures.
According to Sky News, a spokeswoman for the public health department in Alameda County, California, where the Tesla factory is located, said that only essential businesses are being permitted to open before the end of May, and "Tesla has been informed that they do not meet those criteria and must not reopen."
Musk has been strongly critical of lockdown regulations, calling them "unconstitutional" and even "fascist," and suggesting that an appeal to the US Supreme Court could see the regulations overturned.
"If somebody wants to stay in their house, that's great," Musk said in early May. "They should be allowed to stay in the house, and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house, and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist."