Tesla has halted production at its Shanghai facility for four days because to COVID restrictions, according to sources.

(Reuters) - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is shutting down its Shanghai plant for four days after the financial center announced on Sunday that it will shut down in two phases to conduct COVID 19 mass testing, according to two individuals familiar with the situation.

According to the sources, the corporation has informed its employees and suppliers of the change.

According to one of the insiders, it sought to establish a closed loop to keep production going by calling staff in on Sunday. However, after determining that it did not have enough resources for them, it permitted them to go that evening, according to the source.

Tesla will not comment on whether or not manufacturing had been halted. It stated in a statement to Reuters that it has always worked hard to meet its epidemic-prevention obligations, and that it believes Shanghai's COVID-19 policies have helped establish the groundwork for the city's future growth.

Shanghai said on Sunday that it will shut down the city in two phases over the course of nine days to conduct COVID-19 testing.

The Huangpu River, which runs through the city, will be used as a guide to split Shanghai in two for the exercise.

The Tesla plant is located in Shanghai's first shutdown stage, in the Lingang neighborhood of Pudong new area. Its lockdown began on Monday morning and is expected to run until Friday morning.

Tesla had previously halted production at its Shanghai facility for two days in mid-March after the city implemented severe mobility limitations and conducted mass testing.

Its Shanghai plant manufactures automobiles for the Chinese market and serves as a vital export base for Germany and Japan. According to the China Passenger Car Association, it supplied 56,515 cars in February, including 33,315 for export.

This equates to around 2,018 automobiles each day on average.