The China-built Tesla Model 3 is unveiled at a Tesla store on November 22, 2019 in Shanghai, China.

Tesla has temporarily closed its stores in mainland China as of Sunday, Feb. 2, according to an online post from a company sales employee on that date.

The move comes as more than half of China has shut down in an effort to control the spread of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 500 people in the country. Citing public health concerns, Apple said over the weekend it has closed stores in the mainland, through Feb. 9. Many other foreign brands operating in China have also temporarily suspended or limited their local business operations.

The electric automaker's China communications office did not respond to a CNBC request for comment during business hours on Thursday Beijing time.

According to a CNBC translation of the original Chinese text, the Tesla employee wrote in a post on messaging and social media app WeChat that:

"From today on, Tesla stores are all closed throughout China. But I will answer questions online, around the clock. Online orders are still welcome. We suggest all of you stay home, and take good care of your health.

It was not immediately clear whether the closures applied to Hong Kong.

Tesla shares dropped more than 17% on Wednesday after a Tesla VP in China, Tao Lin, announced in a Weibo post that cars initially scheduled for delivery to customers there in early February would be delayed due to the spread of the coronavirus.

In an effort to keep the virus under control, Shanghai has ordered local businesses not to resume work before Feb. 10, which means Tesla's local factory is also temporarily shut down.