132 employees at SpaceX’s Hawthorne headquarters test positive for COVID-19

By Justin Bachman | Bloomberg

At slightest 132 employees astatine SpaceX’s California office person tested affirmative for COVID-19, the largest non-residential confirmed lawsuit number successful Los Angeles County.

The information were reported Monday by region wellness officials, noting that the figures are dynamic and taxable to change. Nearly 6,000 employees enactment astatine Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s office successful Hawthorne, adjacent Los Angeles International Airport.

SpaceX told the Washington Post connected Tuesday, Dec. 21, that “only 1 lawsuit was suspected to person occurred astatine work.” The numbers were from implicit respective months, going backmost to September, erstwhile “several employees who enactment successful the aforesaid country contracted COVID extracurricular of enactment astatine a non-work-related event,” according to the report.

The institution didn’t instantly respond to a petition from Bloomberg seeking comment. L.A. region wellness officials besides didn’t instantly respond.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 streaks beneath the satellite down the West coast, arsenic seen from Santa Monica, aft blasting disconnected from Vandenberg Space Force Base astatine 4:41 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, with 52 Starlink net satellites. The rocket’s reusable first-stage booster made its 11th formation to abstraction earlier landing connected an offshore drone ship. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)

With 132 cases, the outbreak is easy the largest being reported by the county. The second-biggest outbreak is astatine a FedEx installation successful the 5900 artifact of West Imperial Highway, wherever 85 cases person been confirmed. A Northrop Grumman installation is Palmdale has 33 cases.

The region considers an outbreak to beryllium 3 oregon much linked cases astatine a azygous location. The region is presently reporting 37 outbreaks successful non-residential settings.

The outbreak comes during a engaged agelong for the company, which has completed 4 Falcon 9 launches since Dec. 9, including a cargo proviso ngo to the International Space Station aboriginal Tuesday.

The U.S. is grappling with a renewed surge amid the dispersed of the omicron variant. Daily coronavirus infections nationwide jumped to the highest level since September, with astir 254,000 cases reported Monday, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

In March 2020, SpaceX laminitis Elon Musk challenged officials successful Alameda County, the tract of a Tesla Inc. factory, implicit pandemic restrictions that closed the car works successful Fremont. Musk besides sued the region earlier aboriginal dropping that lawsuit.

City News Service contributed to this report