U.S. electric-car maker Tesla’s factory in Shanghai will resume production today with assistance from the Shanghai city government to help it cope with a spreading coronavirus epidemic, a government official in Shanghai said Saturday.

Many factories across China shut in late January for the Lunar New Year holiday that was originally due to end Jan. 30 but which was extended in a bid to contain the spread of the new flu-like virus.

Tesla warned Jan. 30 that it would see a 1-1.5 week delay in the ramp-up of Shanghai-built Model 3 cars as a result of the epidemic, which has severely disrupted communications and supply chains across China.

Tesla vice president Tao Lin said last week that production would restart today and car deliveries from the plant would be temporarily delayed.

“In view of the practical difficulties, key manufacturing firms, including Tesla, have faced in resuming production, we will coordinate to make all efforts to help companies resume production as soon as possible,” Shanghai’s municipal government spokesman Xu Wei said.

The US$2 billion Shanghai factory is Tesla’s first outside the United States and was built with support from local authorities. It started production in October and began deliveries last month. (SD-Agencies)