@Sam397 I am one of the hosts who don't think that guests should have to pay what the cancellation policy says during this pandemic. That is not to say I think Airbnb has handled this well- they have handled it horribly, and continue to do so, even apart from the refund policies.
I would have liked to see 25-30% go to the host, and the guests be reimbursed the rest, because they didn't get to enjoy the place they paid to stay. That would have seemed the most fair to both parties, IMO. Any hosts who chose to refund more are free to do so. But that should be up to the host, not Airbnb.
No, I'm not a high volume host, because I only have one private room in my home to let and the viable booking season is only about 5-6 months, not because my calendar isn't open or I don't get guests.
I can tell you that for the $28/night I charge, not only does the guest get a sweet and comfy private room with a private bath and full kitchen usage, I put quite a lot of prep time into each booking. First of all, I don't use IB, so guests have to send me a request message to book. Not only do I answer those promptly, my guests and I exchange, on average, about 3 or 4 further messages prior to their arrival. I don't use any saved messages, I address each guest personally according to their communications. I also send them an email which includes a map to my house and transportation details, depending on their method of arrival. So I have already put in maybe an hour of time on each booking before they even come close to arriving.
Then I spend about an hour and a half cleaning the guest room/bath, (sometimes 2 hours) I gather fresh flowers from my garden for their room, I wash towels and sheets and iron if necessary, and clean the kitchen I share with guests and the outside areas far more thoroughly than if I were here alone.
Then there are the contant upkeep and repairs and so on I do to the guest space.
So no, my attitude that guests shouldn't have to pay 50% of their booking during a world-wide health crisis has zero to do with thinking that "hosts don't do anything before a guest's stay" and I seriously doubt that any other host thinks that either.
What I think and see in my reading here is that the hosts who are insistent that the guests should have been held to the cancellation policy are the ones who had no savings or other income and relied exclusively, or at least heavily, on their bookings for their normal living expenses, not that those who are willing to refund in full think hosts don't do anything if a guest doesn't show up.