My First 2022 Business Travel in COVID-19 Pandemic — Is it worth it?
AWE XR USA 2022, Santa Clara — XR & Spatial Computing; Quantum.Tech 2022, Boston — Quantum Computing
Andi Sama — CIO, Sinergi Wahana Gemilang
In Summary
- Experiencing international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic while attending the AWE XR USA 2022 and Quantum.Tech 2022 International events (late May - June 2022). Many countries worldwide have been distributing COVID-19 vaccines massively for about 1.5 years.
- COVID-19 related prerequisites: proof of full vaccination, WHO-approved vaccines, Antigen or RT-PCR test, no mandatory quarantine when arriving to the USA, and no mandatory quarantine when returning to Indonesia.
- Starting at 12.01 AM on June 12, 2022 all the COVID-19 entry requirement for International traveller to the USA has been lifted. It means presenting a negative test result or documentation of recovery in the past 90 days from Covid-19 is no longer an entry requirement.
- Prerequisite to return to Indonesia: Proof of full vaccination (WHO vaccine certificate) at airline check-in counter.
- Includes a COVID-19 experience during a short visit to Singapore, a week before going to USA.#SinergiWahanaGemilang #SWG #AWEXRUSA2022 #QuantumTech2022 #Conference #InternationalConference #Metaverse #SpatialComputing #XR #Quantum #QuantumComputing #SingaporeAirlines #DeltaAirlines #Pandemic #COVID-19 #Antigen #RT-PCR #bumamefarmasi #Travel #VaccinatedTraveler #Insurance
YES, I feel you. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (2019’s Corona Virus Disease), many of us have been missing traveling so much — especially for spending some quality time with the family. And thank God, finally, after having ourselves working mostly from home for about two years or so, business activities gradually started to return to a new normal, including International events.
One of those events was AWE XR USA 2022, recently held in early June 2022. This world’s 2022 largest XR (Extended Reality) International Technology hybrid event was in-person and virtual, on June 1–3 in Santa Clara, CA, USA.
Another event was also held in June 2022, Quantum.Tech 2022. This Quantum Technology International Technology hybrid event was also in-person and virtual, conducted on June 13–15 in Boston, MA, USA.
International Events in COVID-19 Pandemic
Most business professionals regularly attend select conferences and exhibitions to expand their professional network as well as to be aware of the latest trends in their areas of interest. In addition, International attendees often also spend some quality time with their immediate family, extending a few more days outside the conference schedules.
Thanks to the advancements in technologies enabling the availability of COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year — allowing Governments to start distributing the vaccines to their people worldwide in early 2021. The expectation was to achieve herd immunity in the shortest possible time, thus significantly slowing down the spreading of the virus.
While most Governments started to ease the regulations for following strict health protocols, some are still advising people to follow mask-wearing (especially indoors), including practicing social distancing and regularly washing hands. In reality, social distancing is getting less and less as more business activities are getting back to normal.
Some countries may still need some more time to accept the fact and comfortably live along with COVID-19. Targeting to achieve herd immunity within the shortest possible time has been the priority for most Governments worldwide. The expectation is that herd immunity will be significantly slowing down the spreading of the virus. Herd immunity (WHO, 2020) is a situation where “the vaccinated people have been 80–95% of the total population within the area.”
The latest published summary on Indonesia COVID-19 Vaccination status was issued by the Ministry of Health of Indonesia on May 14, 2022. Indonesia has achieved 79.79% of fully vaccinated people (of 208 million total targeted people), while 95.83% has received their 1st of 2 shots (Kementrian Kesehatan, 2022). The distribution of the 3rd shot (booster) has just been started in January 2022 and has only achieved 20.40% of the target.
Omicron, the recent COVID-19 variant, that had just been discovered in late 2021 was raising a lot of concerns worldwide due to its fast-spreading nature — along with its various variants.
AWE XR USA 2022
Ever since WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, it has impacted many aspects of most people and industries worldwide, including regular International events such as AWE XR(AR World Expo — Extended Reality) that was showcasing and sharing the latest advancements in the virtual reality, thus including metaverse.
AWE has been the medium for the XR ecosystem to connect since 2010. AWE.Live has been available digitally 24x7 throughout the year for the last few years; and in June 2022, AWE was conducted in person in Santa Clara, California.
Avataar and Qualcomm were present as the Titanium Sponsors. Gold Sponsors included several players in these emerging technologies: ArborXR, Holo-Light, HP, Meta, Meta Material, Metadome, Niantic, and SOAR.
Quantum.Tech 2022
The second technology conference was Quantum.Tech, sharing and discussing the latest advancements in Quantum Computing, Quantum Cryptography, and Quantum Sensing.
After doing events digitally during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Quantum.Tech was back for an in-person event, in Boston in June 2022.
IBM Quantum and ClassicQ were present as the Platinum Sponsors, while Quantinuum and Zapata as the Founding Sponsors. Gold Sponsors included known players in these emerging technologies: AgnostiQ, Atom Computing, AWS, DWave, and Quantropi.
International Travel Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic — Going to AWE XR USA 2022 and Quantum.Tech 2022
I was thinking “This is actually my first flight and first International flight after about 2.5 years or so — including the COVID-19 pandemic period. Hopefully, it will be worth it.”
Traveling to the USA for the events has been quite a long flight for me. It was just slightly about 20 hours flight from Jakarta, Indonesia — including a few hours of transit time in Changi Airport, Singapore, as I was using Singapore Airlines.
Well, I have experienced more hours before (give or take about 50 hours) when traveling from New York back to Jakarta, through Dallas, San Francisco, and Singapore— as the transit time was tight between two flights in Dallas, forcing the airline to move all related passengers to a nearby hotel for a few hours while waiting for the next available flight to San Francisco.
COVID-19 Antigen or RT-PCR Test
I did a COVID-19 antigen test (a COVID-19 RT-PCR test would also be accepted for coming to the USA) at one of Bumame Farmasi's 24x7 facilities in Jakarta, one of the approved pharmacies for administering COVID-19 testing in Indonesia. The test costs IDR 150,000 (about USD 11). Alternatively, RT-PCR costs IDR 275,000.
The pharmacy, based on my past experiences, could reliably produce the result within 24 hours for RT-PCR. For those in urgent need, the pharmacy could produce the test result as early as 6-hours. As the USA immigration would accept the COVID-19 antigen test, I proceeded with this. I did the test one day before my first-leg flight departure from Jakarta, Indonesia (as per the requirement).
It was a convenient process — “Just do online registration, arrive by walking or drive through, show the proof of registration, then pay.” Once I was cleared from the queue (I registered for a drive-through test), a health worker with a full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) would approach to take the sample from both noses, and that’s all.
The whole process took just a few minutes, on-site. The pharmacy would deliver the test result by WhatsApp messaging application through the registered mobile phone number, within just an hour following taking the sample.
A proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination was needed as one of the requirements for international travel. Indonesia has an app called PeduliLindungi, the Government-provided COVID-19 tracking app (PeduliLindungi, 2021) that digitally stores one’s vaccination status (including the result of an antigen of RT-PCR test). When we do an antigen or RT-PCR test at one of the approved facilities, the facility would update the result to PedulilLindungi and the data would be accessible for 10-days.
COVID-19 Insurance
Due to the current pandemic situation, travel insurance that has coverage for COVID-19 is essential. When booking a flight with Singapore Airlines, travel insurance with COVID-19 coverage came as an additional optional package.
We could also purchase separate travel insurance that has coverage for COVID-19 hospitalization at the destination. How much we should pay for travel insurance usually depends on a few factors: destination countries, length of stay, and our age.
Proof of COVID-19 Full Vaccination
AWE and Quantum.Tech accepted only WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccinated participants (either fully approved or approved for emergency use authorization by World Health Organization). Sinovac, the majority of deployed primary vaccines in Indonesia, was among the approved vaccines. Following six months after the 2nd dose, I also received the 3rd dose (booster) in early 2022, Pfizer.
The registration process for the events included the verification of vaccination status. For USA-based participants, this was administered thru the CLEAR Health Pass mobile application. To verify the vaccination status of International attendees, AWE & Quantum.Tech implemented a similar mechanism.
For AWE, for example, we were required to upload the Proof of full Vaccination status as part of updating the registration information, a couple of weeks before the event. Alternatively, proof of a negative COVID-9 test, taken within 72 hours before the event OR Proof of full Vaccination was also to be accepted on site.
I uploaded the screenshot of the WHO vaccine certificate generated from Indonesia’s Pedulilindungi app.
Departing from CGK Airport, Tangerang — Indonesia
Through the PeduliLindungi app, my vaccination status was shown and verified during the check-in at the airport.
There was also a mandatory attestation form “Combined Passenger Disclosure and Attestation to the United States of America” (CDC, 2022) that needed to be completed, printed, signed, and given to the airline check-in counter. Noted that, make sure to have the updated form as the form (issued by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has an expiration date and regularly updated.
The airline check-in counter at Soekarno-Hatta International accepted the negative COVID-19 antigen test result presented either printed or within the Pedulilindungi app.
The boarding pass was still issued in printed version, although I had it within Singapore Airlines mobile app.
As I have been to the USA several times before, I still had my valid USA Visa for the trip. Although, the event organizers like AWE and Quantum.Tech could also issue the Visa invitation letter, if requested, during the registration process (or later following the approved registration).
A checklist summary for the departure to the United States of America:
- A valid Passport, valid for at least six months.
- A valid Visa to the United States.
- A Completed, signed, and printed form (first 2-pages only) of Passenger Disclosure and Attestation form to the United States of America.
- A Negative COVID-19 Antigen or negative RT-PCR test result.
- A printed or in-app WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate (generated from the Pedulilindungi app).
In-Transit in Changi Airport, Singapore
Since late 2021, Singapore has been starting to open its border to a few countries through VTL arrangements. VTL, the Vaccinated Travel Lanes have been the special arrangement in which participating countries could enter Singapore without 10 days of mandatory quarantine, as applied before the VTL. Indonesia was among those countries, having a VTL arrangement with Singapore since the end of November 2021.
As of April 2022, there was no more requirement for mandatory quarantine to enter Singapore. As long as we are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, we are free to enter the country.
I was just transiting in Singapore for a few hours.
Arriving at SFO Airport, San Francisco, California— USA
It was one fine Wednesday evening in late May 2022 when I arrived at SFO Airport. The outside temperature was reported at 75F (24C), at the end of the Spring season and looked foggy in a few areas on my way to the hotel. On the next following days, the temperature varied between 52–60F (11–15.5C). Coming from an Asian country with an all-year-round temperature of about 30C (86F), the windy weather was really cool for me even with a light jacket.
At the SFO Airport immigration, my experience was flawless. The immigration accepted my Proof of Negative COVID-19 antigen test and Proof of COVID-19 shots for the Sinovac vaccines (primary) and Pfizer (booster) — the ones listed in WHO-approved vaccines for emergency use. The USA immigration accepted my WHO COVID-19 certificate like other accepted vaccines in the USA.
Latest update as of June 12, 2022
Starting at 12.01 AM on June 12, 2022 all the COVID-19 entry requirement to USA has been lifted. It means that International flights departing to the USA after that time will no longer have to present a negative test result or documentation of recovery in the past 90 days from Covid-19.
A checklist summary for entering the United States of America, at the airline check-in counter:
- A valid Passport, valid for at least six months.
- A valid Airline Ticket.
- A valid Visa to the United States.
- A Negative COVID-19 Antigen or RT-PCR test result.
- A printed or in-app WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate (generated from the Pedulilindungi app).
In San Francisco, I allowed myself to recover from jet lag, while also allowing myself to voluntarily self-quarantine for a few days— (San Francisco International Airport, 2022) advised for a 5-days voluntary self-quarantine for International Traveler in 2021, with no more such advisory in 2022.
Aside from following standard healthcare protocols (wearing a mask indoors and social distancing), there was no further requirement including when traveling domestically.
CDC (CDC, 2022) still advised people to practice social distancing, indoor activities in particular. Practically, no social distancing both outdoors and indoors anymore even in crowded areas such as cafes, restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets. In my view, over 90% of people were not wearing mask anymore.
Domestic Travel within the USA by Land— to Santa Clara, CA
After recovering from jetlag (a few days), I headed to Santa Clara for the AWE event. I traveled by Uber to Santa Clara, about a slightly less than one hour for the distance of 45 miles (72 km). I paid Uber by registering my PayPal account with a local USA number. Uber also accepted major credit cards as a valid form of payment.
The local USA SIM card was bought in Indonesia (Global Komunika, 2022). I requested the activation date be set to the date of my departure. Then, when landed in the USA, I just inserted the SIM card into the first SIM card slot in the smartphone (My Samsung Note 20 — Android) and it was ready to use in no time.
I arrived in Santa Clara with a clear blue sky along the way, with a temperature of 62F (17C). Later that afternoon, it was a windy 59F (15C). Wearing jackets was really necessary to keep our bodies warm.
Domestic Travel within the USA by Air— to Boston, MA
Following the completion of the first event, I headed to Boston on a 5.5-hours domestic flight. It was like flying from the West to the East of Indonesia as San Francisco and Boston have a 3-hours time difference (about 4350 km in distance).
In the airport and in the aircraft during the flight, almost nobody was wearing masks. There was also no checkpoint for validating proof of vaccination at the San Francisco airport. Along with a very long queue (hundreds of people waiting to go through the TSA (Transportation & Security Administration) checkpoint, there was no social distancing being enforced by the authority. In about 1.5 hours including the self-checked-in process, I was cleared from the security checkpoint area.
In-Person Experience at the AWE XR USA 2022 and Quantum.Tech 2022
AWE XR USA 2022
While masks were NOT required, wearing masks was strongly recommended. The event encouraged social distancing e.g., “Think fist or elbow bumps instead of handshakes, 6 feet apart (1.8 meters) when possible”.
Initially, there was a plan that everyone should wear a special wristband showing proof of having been fully vaccinated — to be acquired at one of the available stations by presenting either proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. In the end, there was no wristband distributed to attendees.
There was no social distancing, and more than 95% of attendees were not wearing masks. Although suggested as in many printed signs posted in most public places, social distancing and mask-wearing were not practiced in public areas like cafes, restaurants, hotels, streets, parks, supermarkets, and malls.
Quantum.Tech 2022
A couple of weeks before the event started, the requirement for mask-wearing had been lifted in the city of Boston. There was also no need for attendees to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination as per the city regulation before. However, attendees were free to wear masks, if they chose to do so. Hand sanitizers were also provided at various locations during the event.
Most of Quantum.Tech attendees were not wearing masks.
Food & Beverages — Inflight, at Events
Singapore Airlines served meals normally during my Jakarta — Singapore — San Francisco round trip flights. Passengers were required to wear masks all the time unless when enjoying their inflight food & beverages.
During domestic air travel using Delta airlines, food & drinks (including alcoholic drinks) were provided as options. We could order limited selections of snacks, drinks, and light meals and be ready to pay by cash or credit card.
At AWE, food and drinks were available for purchase at the convention center and distributed at several locations including at the adjacent designated hotel. There were both self-service and full-service spots for getting the meal, especially during lunchtime.
In a self-service station, we could take some food or drinks, and bring all those to the area in which a machine would scan what we took and ask us to tap or swipe the credit card for payment. Self-service was also present in the form of a vending machine. On the opposite, full-service spots were also available in which we could select and order some predefined menu meals and drinks from the list (e.g. freshly made beef burgers and coca-cola), then proceed with card payment. In the spirit to keep “low contact,” only credit card payments were accepted (no cash accepted).
At Quantum.Tech lunch and coffee breaks were provided as part of the event where attendees could take as much as they liked. Drinks included free-flow Starbucks coffee, tea, and light drinks such as canned soda water, spring water, and bottled juices (cranberry and orange). Coffee breaks were served with snacks like peanut cakes and salted almonds & peanuts.
As in typical International events, AWE XR USA 2022, and Quantum.Tech 2022 provided complimentary Wifi as well as charging outlets for all attendees.
Portable Air Purifier
Considering high exposure to COVID-19 from the surroundings while having meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) — either while onboard the aircraft, at the hotel, at the restaurant, or at the events, there was a need for additional protection to have better fresh air while opening the mask. Here came the need for an air purifier.
I used a portable small air purifier mostly while having meals and used the larger one (which has a larger coverage area) while “sanitizing” the hotel room, before even touching anything in the room. Using the air purifier was in combination with the use of 70% ethyl alcohol for hand sanitizer.
International Travel Experience during COVID-19 Pandemic — Returning to My Home Country
Traveling back from the USA to my home country has been another long flight. It was again another 20 hours flight from San Francisco to Jakarta, excluding 10+ hours of transit time in Singapore Changi Airport due to last-minute flight schedule changes.
Departing from SFO, San Francisco — USA
As Indonesia has lifted the requirement to provide an RT-PCR test for a fully vaccinated International traveler since May 18, 2022, there was no need to do an RT-PCR test prior to boarding the flight.
However, showing proof of COVID-19 full vaccination was still required. The WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate (generated from the Pedulilindungi app) can either be shown in the app or shown in printed form at the check-in counter at USA Airport. In my case, at San Francisco (SFO) airport.
A checklist summary for returning to Indonesia, from the United States of America, at the airline check-in counter:
- A valid Passport.
- A valid Airline Ticket.
- A printed or in-app WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate (generated from Pedulilindungi app), printed or shown in the app.
Arriving at CGK, Tangerang — Indonesia
After quite a long transit in Singapore, I finally arrived in Indonesia. I went through a normal immigration process at Soekarno Hatta International Airport. See the discussion below on ”A Short visit to Singapore: Returning to Indonesia.”
Latest update as of June 10, 2022
Effective on June 10, 2022, International traveler coming to Indonesia needs to fill in the e-custom declaration form (SHIA, 2022) — Instead of filling in the printed form, as previously administered.
Well, I am glad to finally be at home.
A couple of weeks' worth of experience during traveling and attending the events has broadened my knowledge of the latest technology advancements in various areas. Definitely worth it to enrich my exciting journey in 2022 and beyond.
Previously, International fully-vaccinated passengers with negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test results were used to be required to be in mandatory quarantine for a few days to two weeks at their expense.
The Government activated the regulation in November 2021 with quite frequent changes along the way (3-14 days, then back to 3 days in March 2022). As the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities had been steadily decreasing, Government activated “no mandatory quarantine“ beginning in April 2022. The 10–14-days quarantine period was implemented during the initial finding of the Omnicron variant of COVID-19 in the first week of December 2021. Then reduced to 7 days and 3 days gradually as number of cases were decreasing.
A Short visit to Singapore — May 2022
About a week before my flight to the USA, I had a last-minute unscheduled trip to Singapore for a technology conference on the future of Automation (transitioning from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0).
Going to Singapore
Coming from Indonesia in the 3rd week of May 2022, there was no required COVID-19 test for the fully vaccinated passengers coming through Changi Airport in Singapore other than filling in the SG Arrival Card online form (ICA, 2022) and uploading the proof of fully COVID-19 vaccination status.
The SG Arrival Card can be completed within three days from the date of departure to Singapore. I needed to open my face mask for about one minute during a facial recognition inspection at the immigration checkpoint at Changi Airport. In the meanwhile, the immigration officer verify my passport and my printed SG Arrival Card.
My passport was not stamped at Changi Airport (It was stamped at Soekarno Hatta International Airport), the approval stating the number of days I was allowed to be in Singapore was sent by registered email instead.
Having our masks on was still required in-flight except when meals were served. I was using Garuda Indonesia for the round-trip flight to Singapore.
A checklist summary for the departure to Singapore:
- A valid Passport, valid for at least six months.
- A valid Airline Ticket.
- Completed and printed SG Arrival Card application form (online application).
- Upload WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate (generated from Pedulilindungi app) within SG Arrival Card application.
- No required Visa for Indonesian.
- No proof is needed for either a negative COVID-19 Antigen or negative RT-PCR test result.
In Singapore
While in Singapore, the Safe Entry feature (to show our vaccination status) within the TraceTogether app for COVID-19 activity tracking (like the Indonesian Pedulilindungi app) is occasionally required to enter certain venues. In my case, Safe Entry was not required to be shown to enter the conference. We can install and register for TraceTogether, however, it can only be activated once we enter Singapore.
Having our masks on was still required indoors while optional outdoors.
Returning to Indonesia
Coincidently, by the time I returned to Indonesia at the end of the third week of May 2022, the requirement to provide a negative RT-PCR test for COVID-19 was just lifted by the Government of Indonesia, just two days before my arrival. Previously, passengers were required to provide a negative result within 2x24 hours before the time of departure.
Though, after passing the immigration (my passport was again, stamped), I still needed to scan the QR code using the Pedulilindungi app to show my COVID-19 full vaccination status. Alternatively — if we are not getting Internet access due to some reasons, we can also show the printed version of our full vaccination status. The manual process would be accommodated in different queue lanes with the in-person officer.
References
- Alpha Events, 2022, “Quantum.Tech: Driving Quantum Adoption Across Global Enterprise” June, Boston, MA, USA.
- Andi Sama, 2022a, “AWE XR USA 2022: Key Insights on Technology Innovations — XR and Metaverse”, June.
- Andi Sama, 2022b, “Mari Mengenal NFT.”
- Andi Sama, 2022c, “Quantum.Tech 2022: Next Generation Insights of Technology Innovations.”
- AWE XR USA, 2022, “AWE XR USA 2022: Where XR Business Thrives” June, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
- Bumame Farmasi, 2022, “Bumame Farmasi for RT-PCR.”
- CDC, 2022, “Combined Passenger Disclosure and Attestation to the United States of America.”
- Global Komunika, 2022, “LycaMobile USA Local Sim Card — 12GB.”
- ICA, 2022, “SG ARRIVAL CARD.”
- Kementrian Kesehatan, 2022, “Vaksinasi COVID-19 Nasional — Indonesia”
- PeduliLindungi, 2022, “Indonesia Tracking app for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).”
- PHRI, 2022, “Quarantine Hotel Jakarta.”
- San Francisco International Airport, 2022, “SFO COVID-19 FAQs.”
- SHIA, 2022, “e-Custom declaration — Soekarno Hatta International Airport.”
- WHO, 2020, “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Herd immunity, lockdowns and COVID-19.”
