Workers at Tesla's Shanghai factory allowed to leave for the first time in weeks, report says

• Workers at Tesla's Shanghai factory will be allowed to leave for the first time in weeks, per Bloomberg.
• Factory workers have been living in a "closed-loop" system to avoid further factory shutdowns.

Workers in Tesla's Shanghai factory will be allowed to leave for the first time in weeks on Friday, Bloomberg reports.

The plant has been operating under a "closed-loop" system that has kept thousands of staff away from the public and regularly tested for COVID-19 since April.

Workers have now been told that they will be able to leave the factory bubble after their shift ends on June 10, according to unnamed sources who spoke to Bloomberg.

Workers have been living in makeshift accommodation close to the Tesla plant to keep production going amid China's strict zero-COVID restrictions.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The factory accounted for half of Tesla's total global output last year but the company has struggled to maintain output going after strict lockdowns were imposed in Shanghai. The plant was forced to close for three weeks in March due to rising Omicron cases.

Insider previously reported that Tesla was making thousands of workers isolate in disused factories and an old military camp to keep them COVID-free before entering the Shanghai factory's "closed loop".

The plan to allow workers to leave the factory bubble on Friday is in line with Tesla's target of ending the system on June 10.