Guidelines for Business Trips (March 18 Version)

As part of the effort to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Tokyo Tech is currently restricting its faculty and staff members, as well as students, etc. from going on business trips. To further supplement this purpose, Tokyo Tech has established the following guidelines regarding pre/post travel protocol.

1. Primary conditions to approve a business trip
Tokyo Tech is requesting its members not to come to campus if 1) they have unusual health conditions, 2) they or those living with them have tested positive for COVID-19, or have been identified as having had close contact with a COVID-19 patient, 3) those living with them have a fever and/or are expecting a PCR test result. Accordingly, a faculty or staff member, etc. to whom these cases apply will not be allowed to go on business trips. During the trip, travelers are expected to take proper precautions against possible infection. For example, dinners, etc. must be avoided.

2. Business trip approvals
On the basis that a faculty or staff member planning a business trip and those living with him/her are both in good health, the decision regarding a business trip will be made according to the “Tokyo Tech Response”, which can be found on Tokyo Tech website’s COVID- 19 updates for faculty and staff page ( https://www.titech.ac.jp/covid-19/ ) (for students: https://www.titech.ac.jp/english/enrolled/health/coronavirus.html ). Travel for lectures that need to be conducted as originally scheduled will be treated as equivalent to business trips.

3. Pre-travel PCR testing
When a PCR test is encouraged or requested by the parties to be visited, including those outside of Japan, or by deans and directors due to the nature of the business activity, even if the conditions set in the above item 2 do not restrict a planned business trip, the traveler must confirm that he/she is COVID-19 negative via a PCR test by using the method specified by the parties to be visited.

The PCR testing to be accepted includes the voluntary mass testing for early detection of infection organized by the Cabinet Office, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, etc. and postal testing kits provided or endorsed by medical and other institutions. Quick self-test kits sold at drugstores and the like will not be accepted. A negative test result does not have to be reported to Tokyo Tech. If the test result is positive, or the traveler notices health abnormalities even with a negative test result, the planned business trip will not be approved in accordance with item 1, and the traveler must report to Tokyo Tech at pcrtest@jim.titech.ac.jp (for students: pcrteststudent@jim.titech.ac.jp ) and follow instructions from their local public health center or the like.
If one or more of the parties at the traveler’s destination, including local authorities, expresses concerns about accepting visitors from Tokyo Tech, the business trip (both overnight and day trips) will not be approved.

^* A list of facilities providing paid PCR testing are available from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website at https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/covid19-jihikensa_00001.html .
Some general hospitals may also provide the test. Please consult your family doctor.

4. Post-travel protocol
A faculty or staff member, etc. who returns from an approved business trip (refer to item 2) must monitor their health condition even more carefully than usual for two weeks if at least one of the destinations includes a region under a state of emergency or the "Area- Focused Intensive Measures for Prevention of the Spread of Infection.” If the traveler notices even the slightest health abnormality, they must consult their family doctor, etc. and must not come to campus. If any health abnormality is noticed, or the traveler is found to have had contact with a COVID-19 patient or someone who had close contact with a COVID-19 patient during the trip, the traveler must report to Tokyo Tech at pcrtest@jim.titech.ac.jp (for students, pcrteststudent@jim.titech.ac.jp ) and follow instructions from their local public health center or the like.

Regarding travelers returning from abroad, the Japanese government decided to take the New Measures for Border Enforcement (27) starting from March 2022. Returning travelers are now required to self-isolate for 7 days in principle, and changes have been made regarding the quarantine period and accommodation, depending on whether travelers are returning from “designated countries/regions in response to COVID-19 variants of special treatment on border measures” (in which case, the person must quarantine at government-designated accommodations for 3 days) and whether they have a valid vaccination certificate (proof of triple vaccination with designated vaccines). The details are as stated in the table below. Individuals entering Japan from locations other than “designated countries/regions in response to COVID-19 variants of special treatment on border measures” and who have a valid vaccination certificate are not required to quarantine if they test negative at the airport.

If a faculty or staff member, etc. wishes to submit a negative test result in accordance with the measures when returning from a business trip abroad, expenses for taking a PCR test can be reimbursed as per item 5 below. In such cases, the negative test result does not have to be reported to Tokyo Tech at pcrtest@jim.titech.ac.jp (for students: pcrteststudent@jim.titech.ac.jp ).

	Does the person have a valid vaccination certificate?	Quarantine period after entering Japan
Entry from designated countries/regions	No	Quarantine at government-designated accommodations for 3 days. (Quarantine ends if test results at accommodation facility on the third day are negative when leaving.)
	Yes (proof of triple vaccination with designated vaccines)	Quarantine at home or accommodations for 3 days, self-test, and receive a negative result. (If not taking a test, quarantine for 7 days.)
Entry not from designated countries/regions	No
	Yes (proof of triple vaccination with designated vaccines)	No quarantine required

5. Reimbursement of business trip-related PCR testing expenses
Expenses for taking a PCR test as required in accordance with the conditions set in these guidelines can be reimbursed through institutional operating expense funds (including external funds/indirect costs) and donations. Reimbursement via external funds/direct costs, such as KAKENHI (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) may also be accepted in certain cases, so please check with the relevant designated division. Please go through the necessary procedures of reimbursement on the Purchase Request System in accordance with the National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Technology Reimbursement Standards. This also applies to business trips by laboratory-affiliated students. However, the test expense for lecture-related travel by students cannot be reimbursed through Tokyo Tech.

6. Inter-prefectural travel other than business trips, including private trips
During states of emergency in Tokyo and/or Kanagawa or the "Area-Focused Intensive Measures for Prevention of the Spread of Infection” thereof, Tokyo Tech strongly requests that its members avoid inter-prefectural travel other than business trips. This includes private trips but not traveling between campuses and home to campus. If such inter- prefectural travel becomes essential, the following points must be considered.

(A)

A decision on the essentiality of travel should be made with due consideration to the circumstances of the parties to be visited.

(B)

Please take a pre-travel PCR test if requested by the parties to be visited. As mentioned in item 5, test expenses can be reimbursed, as long as the trip is for business purposes. The test expense for private trips cannot be reimbursed through Tokyo Tech.

(C)

If at least one of the destinations includes a region under a state of emergency or the "Area-Focused Intensive Measures for Prevention of the Spread of Infection,” monitor your health condition even more carefully than usual for two weeks after returning. If you notice even the slightest abnormality in your health, do not come to campus and consult your family doctor, etc.

7. Validity of the guidelines
These guidelines will be effective for trips beginning on or after March 22, 2022. However, they do not preclude the adoption of revisions prior to that date.