COVID-19 policy and health measures

The following policy applies to all attendees attending RubyKaigi 2023 in-person, including speakers, organizers, and booth staff.

In summary:

• Masks are always required. We encourage use of disposable masks.

We’re continuously monitoring the situation of COVID-19 and considering changes in the policy as needed. We’ll announce any changes in this policy at our Twitter and in emails.

Non Japan based attendees

Updated to our current understanding of government policy as of 1 May 2023

The border restriction has been much relaxed since RubyKaigi 2022, including resume of visa waiver program. We welcome all attendees from abroad as long as they follow Japanese government policy.

Starting 29 Apr 2023, Japanese borders no longer request arriving passenger to present or pre-register COVID-19 vaccination and test certificate. Preregistration of Visit Japan Web form is still recommended for paperless process though but no longer a requirement.

For details refer to https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/covid-19/bordercontrol.html

Vaccination

All attendees are recommended to be fully vaccinated (with all possible boosters).

At the venue

Temperature check

Attendees must check their temperature when entering the conference venue. Non-contact thermometers will be available at the door.

Masks

All attendees must wear a mask at the conference venue. Masks may be removed while eating and drinking.

Attendees may provide their own mask, or use a mask provided by the conference. Conference staff may ask you to replace a mask if the mask considered not complying with our policy.

And speakers may remove their mask when giving a talk during their session.

Masks have to cover your nose and mouth. Face shields, bandannas, and masks with ventilation are not allowed. We encourage use of disposable masks instead of reusable ones and you may be asked to replace if you’re using a reusable one.

Social distancing

All attendees should maintain social distancing (staying away at least 1 meter from other people) while at the conference venue.

Other measures

• Hand sanitizers are available throughout the conference venue.
• RubyKaigi will regularly conduct sanitizing of shared items and desks in the venue where possible.

Positive case reports during conference

We plan to announce existence of positive cases and possible close contacts on Twitter, and relevant Email list as soon as we acknowledge them. People who tested positive or identified as a close contact, are not allowed to enter the venue.

Unless we’re instructed to cancel the in-person conference from government agency, or the venue, we plan to continue the conference normally.

If we need to cancel the in-person conference, we would switch the conference to full-virtual and the further access to the venue would be restricted to the speakers and conference staff. And we don’t refund any tickets for this case.

If you tested positive, or identified as a close contact

If you tested positive, or identified as a close contact during the conference or within 2 weeks after the conference, please report to 2023@rubykaigi.org.

We never share the details of the case to other attendees. The only exception is the requests from government agencies; see below.

Note that we don’t allow people who tested positive or a possible close contact to enter in-person venue, and we’ll offer partial refund for them (if reported during the conference).

Privacy

We may provide a contact list of all attendees to government agencies when requested, in case of COVID-19 suspicious breakout at the conference.

https://www.ppc.go.jp/news/careful_information/covid-19/

Violation

Violations against this policy, including failure to comply, may result into a ban from the conference venue or decline of entry. We do not refund any ticket even in case of policy violation.

Revision

• 1 May 2023: Updated travel guide
• 9 February 2023:
  • We decided temperature check to happen using non-contact thermometer when entering the venue.
  • Masks still must be worn while in the venue, but removed the language “(even at outside)”. The government is no longer requesting people to wear a mask at outside.
  • Speakers may now remove a mask when giving a talk, even when multiple speakers are on a stage.
• December 2022: Initial revision.