Coronavirus: Elon Musk scoffs at risks of deadly disease, tells employees they might die of car crashes sooner
Millionaire innovator Elon Musk shared a memo with SpaceX employees on March 13, in which he scoffed at the dangers of COVID-19 that is now being considered a pandemic across the globe. Not only that, Musk also claimed that car crashes were more dangerous than COVID-19. He also tweeted recently to say, "The coronavirus panic is dumb."
In addition to claiming that they are more likely to die in a car crash than die because of coronavirus, Musk also concluded that COVID-19 is not, "within the top 100 health risks in the United States,” from the evidence that he had come across so far. Of course, his views are contrary to that of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) who announced that coronavirus is now a pandemic.
If the disease is not adequately contained in the coming weeks, health officials suspect that between 160 million and 214 million Americans may become infected with COVID-19. As the number of people who have contracted the virus increase, the infrastructure to accommodate them in health facilities is not going to be enough. There will be a huge inflow patients needing treatment, and this will overwhelm the nation’s health care and medical treatment systems.
According to the CDC, there have been 1,629 confirmed cases and 41 deaths that was resulted by COVID-19. While Musk makes light of the situation; Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler have all instructed their non-factory employees in the US to work from home. Automakers are considering the possibility of shutting down factories in the future as the virus continues to spread and disruptions in the Chinese supply chain have only further complicated vehicle production.
Musk's other company Tesla, on the other hand has, according to a report on The Verge, sent memos to employees asking those who returned recently from Italy, China, South Korea, Iran, Malaysia, Singapore, or Thailand to self-quarantine.