Travel in the era of COVID — Part 3
SIN-CDG-MRS-IST-LAX
In the previous post, I shared my first mid-COVID international travel experience in Nov 2020 from Singapore to France and back again including the formalities to get from A-to-B.
After coming back to Singapore and going through the 2-weeks of hotel quarantine, life was pretty normal. The city-state has reaped the benefits of its strict policies of early confinement and border quarantine and as a result has nearly no community cases of COVID. Restaurants and cafes are open for dining in, shopping and gyms are all open, the parks are buzzing. There is still public awareness and measures, masks are still required as well as checking in and out of venues via TraceTogether, but the fundamental difference is that there is a general peace-of-mind when going out in public since the risk of crossing someone with COVID in the first place is next to nil.
But Singapore has economically struggled with the impacts of closed borders, cutting off the travel business and events industry as well as some of the regional tourism. Singapore is now rolling out vaccinations and is again discussing travel bubbles with the likes of Hong Kong and Australia. Singapore will need to reconcile the fact that a zero-tolerance of local COVID cases will no longer be realistic once borders are open, and it will need to get comfortable with some level of local COVID infections albeit hopefully milder with the vaccination rollout.
This isn’t the case everywhere. It is now early 2021, about 4 months have passed. Many countries have started to roll out COVID vaccines but it is still in its early stages and distribution has proven challenging for some. The world is not out of the woods yet; infection rates are still very high in many countries, saturating health systems and hospitals, and many countries are reverting to confinement to try to keep it from getting completely out of control.
It’s a 3-way race, one between getting the vaccines out to the general population, keeping the ongoing serious COVID cases low enough that they don’t saturate local health systems, and at the same time trying to give some kind of respite to the hard hit parts of the economy. The next few months should see the respective trends flip with more people protected and less in the hospitals and ultimately a return to normalcy, but for now we’re not there yet.
Meanwhile I needed to travel again, this time from Singapore to France for about a month, then to Los Angeles…
Singapore to France
I started the normal pre-travel preparations for France, researching flights &c. when again the French government announced that from 31 January France’s borders were closed to all inbound and outbound travel outside of the EU. The upcoming trip just became more complicated. But like many things French, there were exceptions (“motifs impérieux”), assuming that a person could demonstrate that they fit the requisite criteria (which I did).
The first formality for departing Singapore and entering France was booking a COVID PCR test which had to be taken <72 hours before departure (also keeping in mind travel time, layover, etc. with varying rules on how long the test is valid). A nose swab and SG$170 later and the lab e-mailed the PCR results within the day.
The next formality was to print and sign the French “Attestation de déplacement et de voyage”. On their website, there are several versions for several different cases depending where a person was coming from or going to as well as which exception one was travelling under. This meant a risk of having the wrong form and possibly being turned back, so I printed them all out.
Once everything was in place it was time to go. Departing Changi Airport, the check-in agent verified that I had my PCR results + the attestation (although the guy next to me was turned back since they didn’t have a PCR test and understood from their travel agency that it wasn’t necessary for their trip).
The Air France flight itself was uneventful with a normal in-flight meal and movies. The cabin was again mostly empty but there did seem to be a few more passengers than the previous flight in October (maybe around +30%). Arriving at Charles De Gaulle Airport in the early morning, it was straightforward as the last time, the immigration officer checked my passport and my PCR test results, no need for the attestations.
Sejour en France
France was still struggling with high COVID infection rates. Like last October where France went into a second confinement, the local situation again evolved over the month. During the first weeks France was mostly open; masks were still required, there was a 6PM curfew, but shops were still generally operating, restaurants could not have sit-down dining but did provide takeout which could be consumed on impromptu high-tables nearby. But by the the end of the month, the Paris and Alpes-Maritimes (Nice) regions were back under confinement. Now a couple weeks later post-trip, all of France is back under their third lockdown. Coupled with the fact that the vaccine rollout has been slow, France still has a long road ahead.
I was able to keep myself pretty isolated in an AirBnB, mainly since there was not really anywhere to go besides occasional supermarket trip and walks outside along the port. Coincidentally while there, France 3 Provence-Alpes was putting together an exposé about the impact of COVID on the local tourism industry. My AirBnB host was able to secure an segment on it including my experience as an AirBnB guest. It is an interesting snapshot of the effects of the pandemic on the local tourism industry so if you’re looking for an excuse to brush up on your French, you can check it out in the link alongside the photo :)
France to Los Angeles (via Istanbul)
Eventually it was time to continue on, next stop the US. Again, it was necessary to arrange another PCR test in France in order to board the flight & get in the US, followed by another French attestation to leave the country, as well as acheck on the remaining formalities to enter LA .
The French PCR test was one of the easiest so far: they have a central website where you can find and book a test center. I was able to show up without an appointment as the local community test centre was almost empty, filled a form and provided my ID, got the swab (no cost) and had the result e-mailed to me that evening (albeit with a spelling mistake on my name which fortunately slipped through the checks during travel).
Once again travel day, the check-in in Marseilles was a bit more disorganized than normal. In addition to trying to deal with people travelling with pets, oversized bags, and checking in the Dutch Olympic swim team, they needed to review the various additional formalities depending on the destination. For myself, the airline checked the PCR test results, the French attestation to leave the country, and the formalities for Los Angeles (a screenshot), immigration just checked my passport, and I was cleared to board.
To get from France to Los Angeles, Turkish Airlines actually proposed the best fare via Istanbul including 2 check-in bags (vs. Air France’s carry-on only fare) . The one drawback was a long Istanbul connection (20+ hours) but Turkish Airlines generously also offers a free overnight stay at a local hotel. Admittedly these two additional perks were the deciding factor in an otherwise arbitrary decision of airlines over the fare/flight.
Arriving in Istanbul Airport, the next step was to sort out the overnight layover. #traveltip : Turkish Airlines’ transit hotel desk is actually landside, so through immigration and baggage claim (although you can leave your actual connecting bags checked in), essentially you are entering Turkey so keep in mind your visa status. The airline’s transit hotel desk itself is a bit hard to find and not well indicated, towards the right at the far end of the groundside arrival hall (past the Burger King and the local tourist hotel kiosks). Once at the desk, the staff confirmed that a room was available and my ticket qualified. There was a mysterious long wait for the shuttle bus in the airport followed by another mysterious long bus ride about an hour away, to what was eventually a quite nice business hotel near Atatürk Airport. The hotel itself had implemented proper COVID measures, checked me in (no credit card needed), gave me a good sleep, an included breakfast the next morning, then arranged a shuttle back to the airport.
Back at Istanbul airport, it was again through immigration, departure hall, and boarding. The flight from MRS to IST was full, and the flight from IST to LAX at least 60% (especially compared to SIN-CDG). Masks were still required although with more people it was a bit more difficult to completely enforce. The flight was otherwise uneventful; they provided full sanitary kits, two hot meals, and the normal in-flight entertainment.
12 hours later and I arrived in LAX. US Immigration and customs was straightforward. They checked my passport as usual and PCR test results (still overlooking the name misspelling), I picked up my bags, and I was through.
Vaccinated!
I’ve been back in the US for about 2 weeks. Most people are wearing masks when around public areas (a bit less so on the beaches, but there is more air circulation), restaurants are open including for both outdoor and indoor dining (although myself I’m not yet quite comfortable with the latter). Otherwise similar to Singapore, life feels pretty normal. I’ve been keeping mostly isolated but did need to wander out for a few essentials.
A pleasant surprise was that the local COVID vaccination rollout was transitioning to full speed and I was able to qualify for it. After only a week here, I walked up to the public vaccination centre (no appointment), gave my details, and the next thing I know I had the J&J shot. It is a single-dose and takes about 2 weeks after vaccination before a person is actually protected. I received the CDC vaccination card and eventually received a verification e-mail.
What does that mean? It means that although I’m not invulnerable to COVID (J&J has about a 70% efficacy), if I do catch it I should be able to avoid the severe hospital-sending symptoms. Not perfect but acceptable! It also means that although I’m protected myself, I can still be a transmission risk (albeit theoretically lower) to those not yet vaccinated.
For travel, it means that I can be considered as less of a transmission risk and less of a healthcare system liability than before, but I am still a potential infection vector while in transit or at the destination. So I expect travel to still be limited for those vaccinated to those airlines and destinations who themselves have reached a high level of vaccination.
But the CDC vaccination card doesn’t quite carry over to a “travel health passport” yet. When I was registered, they put something in a system someplace with my ID number and vaccination details. The vaccination card itself was a very simple handwritten form (I actually filled in my own name after leaving the centre), no traceable serial number, no way to link it to my passport or travel. I’m not sure how this would convert over to an “official” travel health certificate and I would be surprised if this would be accepted between international borders. Another formality to sort out next trip…
Conclusion
There is still a notable health risk involved with international travel, both for oneself and those around including both in-flight and at the destination. General vaccination helps reduce the risk and consequences, but it will require that everyone along the chain is also vaccinated to be effective.
Travel formalities themselves are still bumpy, with new friction in the time and effort for the various touchpoints to identify new, different, and fragmented travel document and entry requirements as well as determine what is valid proof that they have been fulfilled. But there is an effort to mitigate between the risk and restrictions to get people moving again.
So this will hopefully be the last of this series. There is a good chance that by the next trip things will be back again in some semblance of a normal working order, with open borders and straightforward procedures in place. Until then, keep washing your hands and wearing your mask, get vaccinated as soon as you can, and keep optimistic…. we’re almost through it!
