In truth the start date or end date is almost irrelevant since Airbnb arbitrarily chooses which of their own policies to follow. Example: a month ago we had a traveler cancel under the then in place Airbnb Covid policy and the travelers check-in date was outside the Covid policy in place. We received an email so stating and with our "Strict" policy we were to recieve 50%.
Then several weeks later Airbnb gave them a full refund and docked us! They applied a later policy that was not in effect at the time the guest cancelled (even though the Airbnb policy states it only applies if the guest has not cancelled already) completely ignoring their own policy.
From Airbnb site:
Does the extenuating circumstances policy apply to my reservation during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Our official article explains in detail how the extenuating circumstances policy applies to cancellations due to COVID-19.
Here’s a summary to help you determine if your reservation is eligible.
Your reservation is eligible if all of the following are true
You booked on or before March 14, 2020
and the check-in date is between tomorrow and October 15, 2020
and you haven’t already canceled it
and you haven’t already checked in
and the pandemic is preventing you from completing your reservation
We objected and showed the proof and documentation and Airbnb just ignored it and said they qualified! Complete ignorance and arrogance was displayed by Airbnb and they refused to do the right thing.
Just another example of Airbnb's abuse of Hosts.