Traveling by plane within a month of recovering from covid

[snpark]

The current correct up to date official information has been given to you yet you still went to another source and now still asking the same questions

The links given to you were indonesian official bang up to date
CDC is American. They don't decide what you need to depart Indonesia or re-enter

Nor do they tell you what you need to enter USA

If you don't follow the correct rules you will not even be allowed into the airport to check in here

 

[harryopal1]

With the Delta variant there are clusters sparking up all over the place in Australia with more lockdowns. It is such a fluid situation that what may be the rules today may not be the rules tomorrow. I wish you luck with your travel plans.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

You will definitely need a negative test to get back into Indonesia. I mean there is no doubt about that at all. Plus the 8 day quarantine.

 

[OomBen]

The current correct up to date official information has been given to you yet you still went to another source and now still asking the same questions

The links given to you were indonesian official bang up to date
CDC is American. They don't decide what you need to depart Indonesia or re-enter

Nor do they tell you what you need to enter USA

If you don't follow the correct rules you will not even be allowed into the airport to check in here

Well if i'm asking the same question and it's not getting answered, then maybe the wrong people are responding or I'm asking the wrong people? I'm asking here so that if anyone who has been through this situation can shed some light on it or if someone finds themself in the same situation, they'll know what to expect.

If I keep asking "Is a letter of recovery good enough to return to Indonesia?" and keep getting referred to the information you shared, that's a bit silly, eh?

I appreciate your responses, so thanks for that. That information is good for everyone.

 

[Ruserious]

Does anyone know if Indonesia allows for a letter of recovery instead of negative pcr test?

You seem to be confused between vaccines and testing. How do you know if she is recovered if she doesnt have a negative PCR? The PCR is an absolute must.

 

[harryopal1]

How old is your daughter? Ruserius just posted this information in the thread "Quick Bali Flying".

"Deep in Garudas mess of information i found this (https://www.garuda-indonesia.com/uk/en/news-and-events/kebijakan-operasional-terkait-covid19):

Passengers under 12 years old are temporary not allowed to travel domestically

Foreigners under 12 years old are not allowed to enter Indonesia considering they are not allowed to continue to domestic flights

Seems amazing but it really looks like under 12s cant fly."

 

[Ruserious]

Well i dont know that it would apply if the end destination is only Jakarta area. But either way I think the OP is confused about letter of recovery. This can help for exceptions to vaccines but it cant be used to avoid PCR tests as a negative PCR would be the key to even getting a letter of recovery. Without it your not recovered.

 

[gemima]

You seem to be confused between vaccines and testing. How do you know if she is recovered if she doesnt have a negative PCR? The PCR is an absolute must.

Some people test +ve on PCR for weeks/ even months (I have one particular friend who tested +ve for 2 months...he had a mild case of covid, is under 40 and had no symptoms after 2 weeks). However, these people are usually classed as being recovered and they (to my knowledge) don't spread the virus (in many western countries they don't bother doing a re-test to prove someone is recovered for this reason). This is why the previous infection (recover) letter can be important in some travel scenarios but I agree it's probably not useful for returning here.

 

[Ruserious]

Gemima thanks for correcting me and you are correct. I just reread it. To me though this seems a bit of a copout by the US government. How can they trust this not to be faked etc? There is no standards for who the health authority issuing the letter is. I cant imagine many other countries allowing this loop hole and id be very surprised if Indonesia allows it (no sign of it on the government website). If your CT score is below the threshold and you test positive, how do they know that you cant spread it?

 

[gemima]

Gemima thanks for correcting me and you are correct. I just reread it. To me though this seems a bit of a copout by the US government. How can they trust this not to be faked etc? There is no standards for who the health authority issuing the letter is. I cant imagine many other countries allowing this loop hole and id be very surprised if Indonesia allows it (no sign of it on the government website). If your CT score is below the threshold and you test positive, how do they know that you cant spread it?

It's a complicated answer and I think it's probably a huge can of worms to deal with for authorities. I agree the letters could be easily faked.
I don't have a reference to hand but I know that researchers have done studies on the viral components in these long-termers and found they are generally not infectious.
One potential reason that people can continue to test +ve in a PCR post-recovery is that the virus genes can be inserted into recovered cell genomes and they then can replicate the virus genes (again they are most probably not infectious when shed): https://www.pnas.org/content/118/21/e2105968118
It's a bit scary to think about!

 

[snpark]

Gemima thanks for correcting me and you are correct. I just reread it. To me though this seems a bit of a copout by the US government. How can they trust this not to be faked etc? There is no standards for who the health authority issuing the letter is. I cant imagine many other countries allowing this loop hole and id be very surprised if Indonesia allows it (no sign of it on the government website). If your CT score is below the threshold and you test positive, how do they know that you cant spread it?

You can't fake it. They want the test with the QR barcode which they can scan. Not just a bit of paper.
You're also supposed to use the govt app to show your test result hence the qr code

 

[Ruserious]

They want the test with the QR barcode

We are referring to a letter from a doctor saying that you are in recovery. Not the PCR test.
Im sure its easy to persuade a doctor to give you that letter or just to fake one. Are you saying that letter has a QR code?

 

[snpark]

You would still have to do the test

 

[snpark]

Maybe the test will come up negative

 

[OomBen]

It's easy to make a fake letter, but if

Maybe the test will come up negative

yeah, hopefully this is the case. I guess I'll be taking a bit of a gamble.

 

[Ruserious]

Just to be clear Im not recommending faking the letter and I also dont believe that anyone should be able to travel without negative pcr tests. I think the US requirement should be stricter.

 

[OomBen]

Update:
If you're American, wish to travel FROM Indonesia to USA and have recently tested positive for covid-19 but posses a letter of recovery, you can travel to the USA no problem without getting a PCR test. The letter is effective for a few months for traveling back to the USA.

In my case, my daughter had just recovered from covid-19 and we had the letter. But, I decided to get her tested and her results came back negative so there was no need for the letter of recovery. I did mention to the check in attendant about her situation and it was no problem. They handed me some form from the US CDC and sign a couple things and we had no issues. If we wanted to, we could have skipped her PCR testing and still would have been allowed to travel back to the USA.

Domestic travel has different restrictions than International travel, so if you're catching an International flight, pay attention to the specific restrictions the airlines or destination country have. In my case, ANA simply followed the posted CDC rules for traveling to the USA. I assume it is the same if one were to travel to Europe, just a different form.

 

[ChrisTex]

So if you haven't tested positive, then you really don't need anything?

 

[Brian86]

I flew recently from Jakarta to USA and my PCR results were never checked during the whole journey. The only thing said or done was the airline gave everyone checking in a form to sign saying you have a negative test (I forget the exact wording).

 

[OomBen]

So if you haven't tested positive, then you really don't need anything?

You need negative PCR test results. The people behind the counter will ask for this.

I flew recently from Jakarta to USA and my PCR results were never checked during the whole journey. The only thing said or done was the airline gave everyone checking in a form to sign saying you have a negative test (I forget the exact wording).

The results are only checked at the check-in counter. They'll ask for them and then pull up some form for you to sign saying your tests were done within 72 hours of departure and are negative. I saw the guy taking photos of the filled out form, so...who knows what they do with that.

Hawaii is a part of the USA and are far more strict that the rest of the USA I believe. You'll need to jump through some hoops, otherwise you'll be stuck in quarantine for 10 days. My transit in Honolulu was a little awkward since i had a transit from an international flight to domestic flight. Signage and directions are crap so you'll have to ask around where you're supposed to go. The construction they were doing didn't help at all either.