Tesla will suspend all operations at its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai for two days to allow health authorities to test every employee for the Omicron variant as the Covid-19 outbreak threatens to flare up again in China’s commercial hub. Production of Tesla’s Model 3 electric sedans and Model Y sports-utility vehicles (SUVs) will be halted on Wednesday and Thursday while the factory is sealed off, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. Tesla’s spokespeople did not respond to requests for confirmation. Tesla’s two-day shutdown in Shanghai’s Lingang free-trade zone is part of the city’s partial lockdown, where the 95-square kilometre Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park has been sealed off, while the Yangshan deep water port – the world’s busiest container port – operates under A-B crew rotation to minimise transmission risks. Gigafactory 3, which began production in 2020, contributed to 51.7 per cent of Tesla’s worldwide output last year. “We are expanding our campaign to screen for infections,” said Yan Bo, the deputy governor of Shanghai’s Pudong district, where Gigafactory 3 and Zhangjiang are located, said during a press conference. “Some key areas in Pudong are undergoing mass nucleic acid tests.” Shanghai, which had kept the Covid-19 disease mostly at bay, is seeing a resurgence that threatens to undo its defences, where 1,000 people tested positive since the start of March, more than the sum of the past two years. Hundreds of communities and neighbourhoods throughout the city of 25 million residents have been partially locked down for authorities to find the transmission chains and isolate infected cases. About 1.2 million people in Pudong have been tested for Covid-19. Typically, a venue is sealed off for 48 hours to enable residents and employees in the area to undergo two nucleic acid tests. Made in China 2025: Clearing the way for a global new energy vehicle industry Among the nearly 1,000 infections, about 120 cases had mild symptoms while others were asymptomatic. Still, the government took no chances. Since Monday, all primary and middle schools, kindergartens and indoor entertainment venues were shut, while restaurants in selected areas stopped allowing dine-in customers. Shanghai Tower, the mainland’s tallest skyscraper at Lujiazui finance and trade zone in Pudong was sealed off for screening for Covid-19 infections. On Tuesday, Gu Honghui, a deputy secretary general of Shanghai municipal government, said the mainland’s commercial hub would not go into a citywide lockdown because its strategy could work effectively in fighting against the virus. Gigafactory 3, the first wholly foreign-owned car plant in China, churned out 484,130 vehicles in 2021, with 66 per cent of them, or 321,000 units, being sold in the country. Production is expected to more than double to 1 million vehicles this year, bolstered by expanded production capacity, according to Tesla’s local suppliers. “A two-day suspension will not affect Tesla’s production by much,” said Phate Zhang, founder of technology portal CnEVpost. “Buyers of Tesla vehicles will have to be patient before their Model 3s and Model Ys are delivered.” At present, customers of either the Model 3 or Model Y must wait as long as 20 weeks for delivery. Shanghai’s government has been a strong supporter of the Tesla plant, pulling out all stops to help the bellwether of China’s electric-vehicle industry. When the Covid-19 first broke out two years ago, Shanghai’s government offered Tesla workers temporary housing, installing infrared thermal sensors to detect fevers among the crew.