California SpaceX headquarters has recently seen 132 COVID-19 cases

At least 132 workers at SpaceX’s Southern California headquarters have been infected with COVID-19, according to new data compiled by Los Angeles County.

SpaceX tops the list of coronavirus outbreaks at workplaces, with the second highest being the FedEx facility near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The compilation features a total of 452 cases at 37 workplaces.

“This list is intended to inform the public of the current COVID-19 community outbreaks in Los Angeles County. Inclusion on this list does not suggest neglect or wrongdoing on the part of the setting,” says a disclaimer on the LA County Department of Health website.

SpaceX released a statement, noting the number represented cases as far back as September because of how LA County defined “current outbreak” and that it would “continue to work very hard to keep employees safe in the workplace.”
 
"Of the 132 reported 'outbreak' cases, only one case was suspected to have occurred at work. 132 is also the aggregate number of cases reported since the September case described above, and that number includes employees who may have been on vacation for several weeks, returned to work and received a COVID test at SpaceX that turned out positive,” the statement said.

It reiterated that the reported number did not mean there were 132 current cases of COVID at SpaceX.

The company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, also serve as mission control and manufacturing for Falcon 9 rockets, one of which was used by NASA last month for a mission testing if it could ram incoming asteroids away from Earth.