Introducing new COVID-19 safety requirements, updated guest standards, and more in the latest Host Update

[Airbnb]

In the latest Host Update, Catherine Powell discusses quality hosting, updates to guest standards, and new COVID-19 safety requirements for members of the Airbnb community. 

Last year, in an effort to hold guests accountable for their actions during a stay, we announced new guest reliability standards. Since then, roughly 100,000 guest accounts that violated these policies and standards have been suspended or removed. In response to ongoing host feedback, we’re adding five new criteria to our guest reliability standards to address late checkouts, unauthorized pets, removal of approved security devices, and other issues. 

Between now and the end of the year, we’ll be investing in improvements to our systems and processes. These efforts will help us in making progress to ensure consistent enforcement, quicker response times, and higher overall accountability with guests.

As the heart of the Airbnb community, we know you work incredibly hard to provide the highest level of hospitality for your guests. When travelers have a bad experience with a host on Airbnb, it affects hosts’ reputations in their local communities and governments—and hurts our community as a whole. We’ve noticed recently that a group of listings didn’t live up to our expectations for quality. So just as we are removing guests to help protect the Airbnb community, we’ve decided to suspend or remove listings that have a consistent pattern of serious issues or that have regularly received low review ratings and failed to meet guest expectations.

In most cases, hosts with affected listings have already been notified and there is an appeals process in place to help address concerns. To learn more about these updates and how they may impact you as a host, watch the full Host Update. 

To help keep our community safe and trusted, starting October 12, hosts of stays will be asked to commit to a five-step enhanced cleaning process. Hosts will be required to attest to the protocol by November 20. If you’ve already attested, you’ll simply need to follow a quick prompt to agree to wear a mask and practice social distancing. New hosts will also need to commit to the safety practices. According to internal Airbnb data, listings enrolled in the Enhanced Cleaning Protocol are some of the most popular listings and have three times more bookings on average than listings that were not enrolled in the protocol.

We know health and safety has been top of mind for both hosts and guests alike, and we will continue to try and ensure standards are being met. As always, thank you for sharing the topics that matter to you. Please let us know what you’d like us to cover in future Host Updates with Catherine. 

To read a full overview of the video, visit this Resource Center article.

[Lisa723]

@Elizabeth2017 "Regarding masks, the WHO has found that most people who get Covid 19 are the ones who wear masks. They are ineffective."  This is contrary to every scientific study and report I have seen. What is your source?

[Elizabeth2017]

I am looking for it. It came across my news feed twice this morning. It was a study that found that most people who get covid are the ones who are the most diligent about wearing masks. It was like the mask was more like a dust mop/trap for germs that you kept close to your face and breathed them in. It was startling.

I've looked and I cannot find the link. Its unfortunate. I should have saved it. The data appeared real.

[Elizabeth2017]

Finally, I found the study. I was incorrect. It was not the WHO. It was the CDC. Look at the 4th page of the study. It has a section on Sars Cov2 infection and mask wearing. The truth is, two members of my family have gotten Covid in spite of wearing masks diligently, so this study rings true to me.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6936a5-H.pdf

[Lisa723]

@Elizabeth2017 

That study reports the opposite of what you say.

“71% of case-patients and 74% of control- participants reported always using cloth face coverings or other mask types when in public.”

its primary finding is that people testing positive were more likely to have patronized a dining establishment (where mask use is necessarily compromised).

Further, the primary benefit of masks is known to be protecting others from the wearer. If everyone does it then everyone is safer.

[Lisa723]

@Elizabeth2017 also, this study compares people who were sick with covid-19 vs people who were sick with something else, so it really doesn't address the question of whether masks prevent you from getting sick (with covid-19 or with anything else). To do that you'd have to randomly assign mask-wearing or not-mask-wearing to a large group of people and see who gets sick.

[Elizabeth2017]

Lisa, did you check on page 4, where it compares faithful mask wearers, to those who don't faithfully wear masks? It is interesting. A much smaller percentage of people, those who don't wear masks, get the Rona. Of course, most people are mask wearers, at least where I live. With that being the case, with more mask wearers, of course there will be a greater population that catch covid.

Also, unless all people are changing out their masks with every store they visit, throwing away the disposables, and washing their cloth masks, bandanas, neck gators,  everyone is applying, directly to the face, the filthy, possibly germ covered mask directly to our noses and mouths. Great way to get sick.

Do I wash my cloth mask? Not often enough. Do I wash my bandana? No, I leave it on the dashboard of my car so that the heat of the sun can kill the buggers. Hopefully.

Honestly, regarding the study,  I was looking for the part in the paper I had seen a news feed and found the entire study in the process. I have not read the entire study.

It is interesting, for sure. I'm still not sure what to make of it all and wonder what the prognosis would be if it hadn't become so political.

[Lisa723]

@Elizabeth2017 Yes, I did, and it does not support your statement.

It says that 70.6% of the people who were sick with covid-19 always wore masks and 74.2% of the people who were sick with something else always wore masks.

This is not a very meaningful statistic. It tells us nothing about people who did not get sick at all, and this was not a study where people were randomly assigned to wear masks or not wear masks and their rates of illness were compared.

But in any case there is certainly nothing here that remotely implies that "most people who get covid are the ones who are the most diligent about wearing masks." And, again, masks are worn to primarily benefit others, in case one is presymptomatic and unknowingly contagious. The UCSF study really offers a good overview of the science:

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-ma...

I agree with your final sentence 100%.

[Elizabeth2017]

Thank you for your conversation. I appreciate and respect what you have said.

[Leyla13]

I could not find information regarding "WHO has found that most people who get Covid 19 are the ones who wear masks."  BUT here is a quote  from a document posted on the World Health Organization website regarding the lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of wearing masks (Dated June 5 2020):

"At present, there is no direct evidence (from studies on COVID19 and in healthy people in the community) on the effectiveness of universal masking of healthy people in the community to prevent infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19."

"Advice to decision-makers on the use of masks for the general public:  Many countries have recommended the use of fabric masks/face coverings for the general public. At the present time, the widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence and there are potential benefits and harms to consider "

Source:  https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care...

[Lisa723]

@Leyla13 June was a long time ago.

[Leyla13]

@Lisa723Yes, you are right. June was four months ago. I wonder why that is their most recent publication on the matter. Could it be because there is not yet scientific evidence of the effectiveness of wearing masks to prevent the transmission of respiratory diseases? I just wonder. If you spot a more recent publication on the subject from the WHO, please share it. I'm all ears!

[Lisa723]

@Elizabeth2017  @leyla13

This is a good overview:

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-ma...

[Deb75]

It's pretty easy to find multiple sources.  THE SCIENCE is...the virus is an aerosol. and the majority of  masks do NOT block an aerosol in either direction. Just spray one with hairspray or deoderant.  With Google being part of the misinformation problem, it's a bit more tiresome to find the correct articles but they are there, as are medical studies if you care to read something that can make you cross your eyes.  Additionally, CDC states (if you can ever believe their ever changing recommendations) that 85% of positive people WERE wearing a mask 'all or most of the time' according to a recent study.  AND they also state that " you need to be within  less than 6' of an INFECTED person (most likely one WITH symptoms) for MORE than 15 mn to have a significant chance at contracting the virus'.  Even then according to the recent Standford U. study, you would still only have a 1 in 4,000 + chance of contracting the virus.  Please remember the virus's mortality rate against our population (the only way OTHER diseases are factored) is around .007%...And before I get flamed, these are NOT my 'made up stats'...They are the stats from respected institutions.  So one can make their own minds up as to how to proceed.  We have had, in our area of 4 counties (about 55k people) 33 fatalities with/from (no one knows for sure as 95% had serious underlying conditions) the virus since March.  That is a miniscule number. 

So being 'forced' to comply with mask wearing for my State and area is tyranical and ridiculous.  My property is MY property AND my home and I am located on a mountainside with 1,000 plus acres of wilderness around me. NO near neighbors, etc etc.  So WHY should I be required to do this, as if I were in the center of N.Y. city???  They really have no right to try and micromanage our businesses as they are not the ones to suffer from these policies.  Although they WILL if they continue as we will find other listing platforms. 

[Jenifer58]

I live and manage a property in Perth Western Australia where we have had ZERO COMMMUNITY TRANSFER for over 6 months.  Masks are not required or encouraged where we host.  In fact the government here is trying to get big corporations (Like Apple and Uniqlo) to pull their head out and abide to local laws and guidelines as that is the only location in the state where people are wearing masks, it's ridiculous!  I think it is terrible that Airbnb are threatening to  block reservations if we do not abide to rules that are completely against local laws and regulations.   

[Kris2892]

Hi it a little bit confusing given we agreed to cleaning protocols a while ago and some of the requirements were somewhat very hard to impliment and adhere to and somewhat crazy. EG  re washing down all walls etc  we have always and will always ensure safe practices are implimented and adhered to. As a Airbnb Host we take everything we do very seriously and clenaing to a  very high standard has always been the case prior to any covid outbreak. We have revisited this on a number of occasions and we are very happy with our revised  cleaning practices and standards and we are very very confident we adhere to required standards as recommended by state and federal health authorities . We dont actually interact with our guests as we have a onsite key safe and we are very lucky where we are located as there are no active cases of Covid  anywhere within  within our state and our boarders are still currently shut and there are no requirements  whatsoever for face masks or protective facial apperatus.  If this were to change and our state Govenment made it a requirement or manditory we would definately take all measures required to comply and impliment. n thankyou for your ongoing support and assistance. We will always adhere to the highest standards possble and take to ensure  we are all as safe as we can be and our practices keep our guests as safe as possible during these very trying and somewhat scary times. Most of our implimentions will continue to be based on what our State and federal Government recommends and expects from us as accomodation providers and guest houses.

kris In Tassie