Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla, gestures during a ceremony at the company’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, China. (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Last Feb. 10, as authorities in China ended work stoppages intended to halt the novel coronavirus, much of the country remained quiet. Transportation was still disrupted, and many workers were stuck in their home provinces. Others had been told to avoid their factories and offices until managers formulated plans to reopen safely.