Health & Safety

Mask Mandate

While Austin’s indoor mask mandate has been dropped, we are still requiring masks to be worn while indoors at the event with the following exceptions.

• Not required by speakers while delivering a talk
• Not required by any event participant while actively eating or drinking
• Not required by any event participants who have a disability or impairment that makes wearing a make unfeasible
• Not required outdoors

Food and beverage will not be allowed in the keynote room or conference session rooms. Food and beverage will be allowed in all other areas including the Sponsor Showcase and foyers.

Masks must be worn over the nose and mouth and must be made of a tight-knit, non-permeable material. KN95 or N95 masks are recommended. Cloth masks are acceptable. Bandanas, scarves, and gators are not permitted to be used as masks.

Vaccine Requirement

Attendees are required to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks (14 full days) after the final dose (1 of 1, or 2 of 2) of a government-approved vaccine.

Accepted Vaccines

Only vaccines approved for emergency or full use by the World Health Organization fulfill our vaccine requirement. View the most up-to-date list of accepted vaccines here. 

On-Site Vaccine Verification

Participants will need to show proof of vaccination and a government-issued photo ID to enter the event. The following are acceptable forms of proof of full vaccination:

• Government-issued or government-compliant digital vaccination verification app (such as Clear or VaxYes)
• Physical (or digital photocopy of) COVID-19 vaccination card, record, or certificate issued by a government agency, public health agency or other authorized vaccine provider (a photo will also suffice).

The proof of vaccination record must show the name of the vaccinated individual along with one other personal identifier (such as date of birth or passport number), name of the manufacturer for vaccine received, and date(s) of vaccination. It must also include the name of the official source issuing the record (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider).

Daily Temperature & Symptom Checks

Event participants will receive a daily temperature & symptom check prior to entering the ‘event zone.’ This will only be required upon entry each day. A badge sticker will be provided after the check to allow for re-entry for the remainder of the day without additional checks. 

Wearable Indicators of Social Distance Comfort Levels

We will provide a wearable indicator of social distance comfort levels for event participants to wear onsite (optional but encouraged). Participants are asked to be respectful of each other’s comfort level on social distance.

If you are traveling to the United States, review the entry requirements from your country of origin here. The United States requires that all air passengers, 2 years or older, with a flight departing to the US from a foreign country, are required show a negative COVID-19 viral test result taken no more than 1 day before travel, or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days before they board their flight. Air passengers will also be required to confirm in the form of an attestation that the information they present is true.

Note that entry to the event requires proof of vaccination, regardless of the United State’s entry requirements.

Read carefully to ensure you have the most recent information regarding travel rules and regulations based on your country of origin. The requirement may change so continue to check back for updates.

Please expect the following to be in place at the event: 

• Vaccine requirement 
• Mask mandate while indoors and not actively eating and drinking
• Daily temperature checks
• Daily COVID-19 symptom survey
• Event signage indicating required health and safety protocols 
• Wider aisles in the exhibit hall with booths spaced apart. Event participants are asked to not crowd around booths and to limit the number of attendees at a booth at any given time.
• Rigorous onsite cleaning and sanitizing of all touch points including cleaning of each badge check-in station between participants
• Pre-packaged food and beverages where possible
• Sanitized microphones between each speaker’s use
• Plentiful sanitation stations onsite
• Personal hand sanitizer bottles and wipes available for participants

At a minimum, we will be following all mandated venue, municipality, and CDC guidelines. This list, and all protocols, are subject to change as the fluid COVID-19 situation changes. 

What should I do if I am onsite and not feeling well?

If you aren’t feeling well, please watch for COVID-19 symptoms. Depending on your symptoms and how unwell you feel, please take an at-home Covid test (we highly recommend traveling with your own tests) or go to the nearest testing facility, urgent care, or hospital. Please follow the CDC guidelines on when you should seek medical attention if you are showing COVID-19 symptoms.

Pharmacy
CVS Pharmacy, 500 Congress Ave (5 min walk from the JW Marriott)

In-Person Testing Locations

Should you end up testing positive for Covid:

• Follow the CDC guidelines on what to do if you get sick. 
• Please follow the guidance of the testing facility, urgent care, or hospital that you visited in order to best protect yourself, as well as the community. The facility at which you test positive will notify the Department of Health if deemed necessary by local guidelines for contact tracing purposes.
• You will not be able to return to the event.
• Email Angela Brown, GM of Events, at angela@linuxfoundation.org, to let us know. While we will need to let event participants know that someone onsite tested positive for COVID-19, we will not disclose your name. We will ask attendees to monitor their own symptoms and follow CDC recommendations on what to do if they may have been around a person who had COVID-19