SHANGHAI, March 28 (Reuters) – US automaker Tesla (TSLA.O) It will suspend production at its Shanghai plant for four days after the financial center said on Sunday it would shut down in two phases for mass testing for COVID 19, two people familiar with the matter said.

People said the company had notified its workers and suppliers of the move.

One of the sources said the company initially tried to set up a closed loop to continue production and called up workers on Sunday. But he added that he let them leave that evening after she decided she did not have enough provisions for them.

Tesla declined to comment on whether production has been suspended. In a statement to Reuters, she said she always strives to fulfill her epidemic prevention responsibilities and believes that Shanghai’s measures on COVID-19 have helped lay the foundation for the city’s future development.

Shanghai said on Sunday it would shut down the city in two phases to conduct COVID-19 testing over a nine-day period.

Authorities said they would split Shanghai in two for the exercise, using the Huangpu River that runs through the city as a guide.

The Tesla plant is located in the Lingang District of Pudong New District, which is part of Shanghai’s first shutdown phase. The shutdown began early Monday and is set to last through Friday morning.

Already in mid-March Tesla suspended production at its Shanghai plant for two days after the city implemented strict movement controls and conducted mass testing. Read more

Its Shanghai factory produces cars for the Chinese market and is also an important export center for Germany and Japan. 56,515 vehicles were delivered in February, including 33,315 for export, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

This comes to an average of about 2,018 vehicles per day.

(Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh) Editing by Himani Sarkar and Jerry Doyle

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