At press time, almost all of the states in the country have begun to relax their social-distancing and quarantine policies. According to the New York Times, many are doing so despite not conforming to White House guidelines that they should wait for a 14-day period of falling diagnoses and deaths, despite warnings from senior health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci of a second wave of viruses. Few places, though, are opening up entirely without enhanced restrictions, including encouraged use of masks and physical distancing.
The retreat of COVID-19 quarantine laws is currently forming a mirror image to the first implementations of the orders: States and counties that were hesitant to shut down have leapt to reopen, and those that shut down early on have been slow to relax restrictions, including in the San Francisco metropolitan region, which announced today that manufacturing and limited retail activity could resume.
And in one of the most dramatic shifts in manufacturing, the largest auto plants in the company resumed their regular production lines today, albeit with slower shifts and spread-out workers. General Motors, Ford Motors, and Fiat-Chrysler, all members of the “Auto Coronavirus Task Force,” brought their regular production lines back to life starting today.
San Francisco-Bay Area Manufacturing Can Resume
In a sign of growing confidence that the worst of the pandemic is over, a group of early adopter counties in the San Francisco Bay Area has announced that they will allow manufacturing, warehousing, and some curbside-pickup retail activity to resume. The Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas were some of the first spots in the country to impose quarantine restrictions against the virus.
“As we reopen certain sectors, Bay Area residents are still required by health order to stay home as much as possible, wear face coverings, and follow the precautions that have helped the region make progress to slow the spread of COVID-19,” read a joint statement. The affected counties are Berkeley, Alameda, Santa Clara, Marin, and Contra Costa.
GM, Ford, FCA Resume US Production
On May 18, the three largest US auto manufacturers began to restart their main production lines. The reopening comes an even two months from when the three companies all closed their factories March 18. All three companies—General Motors Co., Ford Motors Co., and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles NV, formed the Auto Coronavirus Task Force back in March alongside the UAW, the auto union which represents workers at all three companies. Read the full story here.
All three autoworkers announced they would take significant measures to keep workers at the revived plants safe from any resurgence of the viral infection. Ford Motors, as part of its own response, announced it had formed partnerships with four separate healthcare systems local to its factories. Those healthcare systems have agreed to test any Ford workers that show symptoms of the virus. According to Ford’s medical director, the system is intended to indicate whether or not a symptomatic employee is positive for COVID-19 within 24 hours. Read the full story here.
