The SpaceX COVID-19 outbreak has yielded a total of 132 positive cases from the employees of the space exploration firm of Elon Musk in its corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
A mock up of the Crew Dragon spacecraft is displayed during a media tour of SpaceX headquarters and rocket factory on August 13, 2018 in Hawthorne, California. - SpaceX plans to use the spaceship Crew Dragon, a passenger version of the robotic Dragon cargo ship, to carry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
SpaceX COVID-19 Outbreak
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed that out of the approximately 6,000 employees from the SpaceX Headquarters, 132 of them tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as per the news story by Fox News LA.
A court document back in May estimated that about 5,972 staffers are working in the corporate site of SpaceX at 1 Rocket Road in Hawthorne, Los Angeles.
It is worth noting that the corporate headquarters of the space firm is home to both the engineering and manufacturing of the Falcon 9 rockets, as well as the Dragon capsules. Not to mention that the main designs for its spacecraft are also being done in the same facility.
The LA health authorities released the latest number of COVID cases inside the corporate headquarters of billionaire Musk along with the other positive cases in the county.
Los Angeles County reported nearly 3,000 new COVID-19 cases as part of the raging winter surge, which continues to see an uptick in the number of new positive cases.
As such, the health authorities of LA Country further noted that the cumulative number of cases in the said location has already reached a total of 1,563,894 cases. Meanwhile, the fatalities from COVID-19 in the county have already tallied up to 27,441.
SpaceX and COVID-19
According to the report by Los Angeles Times, it is not the first time that the headquarters of SpaceX figured in a COVID-19 outbreak.
During the early days of the pandemic, back in March 2020, a total of 12 employees from the said rocket facility were also quarantined after two cases broke out.
On top of that, over 400 employees from the SpaceX plant ended up being positive from COVID-19 from May until December 2020.
It is to note that the CEO and founder of the space firm, Musk, have been consistently blurting out that the whole pandemic is overblown and even "dumb."
In fact, LA Times further mentioned in the report that the other tech firm of Musk, Tesla, went on to open its plant in the Bay Area even if there were statewide lockdowns that were in place during that time.
Related Article: SpaceX Starship is 'Next-Level,' But Has a 'Long Way to Go; Says Elon Musk for Interstellar Explorations
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Teejay Boris
