COMPULSORY enhanced cleaning protocol unrealistic for many

[Belinda55]

Dear Airbnb,

Please quit your paternalistic and bullying ‘one size fits all’ policies. There are many locations in the world with little or no community COVID infections, so to coerce hosts (by threatening blocking of calendar and bookings) into complying with a global policy is both unrealistic and unfair.
There are no other booking platforms doing this! Hosts are able to comply with local regulations and requirements and do not need this heavy-handedness from you. I have been a Superhost, with a perfect record on cleanliness, for 7 years straight, and am insulted and offended by your approach. Talk about ‘biting the hand‘ ... we are now planning to prioritise other booking platforms.

[Clare167]

@Anonymous did you get an answer on what will happen if we don't sign? I have had a booking in the calendar for months and would be sorry if prevented from honouring it...

[Anonymous]

@Clare167  I think @Katie  is still working on getting answers for us, but I hope they also talk about how existing bookings after Nov. 20 will be impacted if hosts don't opt-in to the protocol.

[Belinda55]

@Anonymous @Clare167 

I’d love some feedback on this. I’m almost booked solid to Xmas, would they really pull the plug on all of those reservations?

[Debra300]

@Belinda55.

Yes, Airbnb would cancel your reservations, and delist you.  They would hope then that you'd come on forums like this to complain about what happened to you, and it be a warning that would scare other hosts who had also not signed up into compliance. 

[Anne9699]

I have been a super host for several years and have a 5 star rating. It currently takes me 4 and a half hours to clean after every stay. These regulations would make the cleaning a 10 hour job, minimum. I simply can't believe that anyone would want to pay the cleaning fee that would be required to accommodate these regulations. It is my understanding that the current science is showing that Covid is not transmitted by touching surfaces, but through breathing in droplets as infected persons are speaking, singing, yelling, etc. This is so overboard, it defies belief. 

[Sarah977]

The current science doesn't say that Covid isn't transmitted by touching surfaces. It says the possibility of transmission by surfaces is low compared to airborne transmission. And that is because there would have to be a specific set of circumstances for surface transmission. First, the surface would have to have active virus droplets on it, there would have to be enough viral load to infect anyone else, and the person who touched it next would have to then touch their mouth, nose or eyes or spread it onto other surfaces before thoroughly washing their hands. 

So there would be much less likelihood of transferring the virus from a surface in your home that someone who was infected had merely breathed on, than there would be from touching a railing on a public bus that hundreds of people had touched, for instance, or from someone who was infected shouting in your face, but that doesn't mean it would be impossible to contract COVID from a surface. 

At least according to what is presently known, but new findings about this virus come out daily. 

However, I do think much of Airbnb's cleaning protocol is over the top and pointless, like putting on gloves to carry clean linens, when washing your hands with soap first would be just as safe.

@Anne9699

[Anne9699]

My feeling is that everyone should do what they think is right, because everyone has a different view on the situation. I have friends who are immune compromised. They have had Lyme disease and have lots of fraility issues. They believe they should stay home and be safe. That is correct for them. For others, getting out and hiking in the fresh air is the thing to do. I applaud everyone for their individual choice. Let's not have big brother step in and decide for us what our best option is.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah977  Yes, this! 

Realistically, we could cut the caseload down far more by minimizing unnecessary travel than by using more bleach. But less leisure tourism means less money for Airbnb, so they're trying to shift the narrative to their own benefit by making it about cleaning practices.

It's a bit like pretending the wildfire crisis is all about forestry management.

[Belinda55]

Yep totally agree. In Aus we have limited travel already. Are Airbnb really going to ‘cut off their nose’ by de-listing Superhosts that don’t comply, and losing that income? Unlikely I’d say ...

[Anonymous]

@Belinda55  Well, I await Ms Powell's answer on that question. But since they threatened several different actions they might take against non-compliant hosts rather than simply specified one, it sounds like a pressure tactic and not a policy they've actually thought through.

[Debra300]

Is there an alert or pop-up on your dashboard as a prompt to sign up for the cleaning process?  I don't see anything on mine.

@Anonymous @Sarah977 @Belinda55 @Emilia42,

[Belinda55]

@Debra300 

There was at first a full screen pop up, then when I chose ‘Later’ it has become a banner at top of screen indicating I need to agree by 20 Nov. Seems they are rolling it out incrementally to different locations ...

[Sarah977]

There was a banner right over the top hosting bar the other day when I signed up, but that's obviously not showing up like that for everyone. 

If you go to the Airbnb Resources page, the cleaning stuff is on there. @Debra300

[Debra300]

Thanks for the responses, but I haven't seen a full page pop-up, and don't have a banner at the top of my dashboard.  I did go back to the Resource Center, and re-read the transcript of Catherine's video announcing the compulsory opt-in.  It was updated on October 15, but I cannot tell where the revisions were made.  

Just as well, I am going to wait to see how much activity I get from Airbnb vs. other OTAs before signing up .  Like many hosts, I think that Airbnb is over-reaching with this recent mandate.  Presently, I am working on updates of my personal listing website, and to my listings on other platforms (of which, none have made any type of mandatory cleaning, mask wearing or social distancing requirement).

@Sarah977 @Belinda55 

[Sarah977]

If you click on the "5 step process" in the resource center, next to that video, you'll see a "Get started" partway down.

https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/getting-started-with-the-5-step-enhanced-cleaning-p...

@Debra300