Anyone know how to get in touch with a higher-level Host Help individual at Airbnb re: COVID without resorting to posting on Facebook?

[Marty9]

My guest notified me on Christmas Day he had Covid.  I contacted Airbnb Host Help and was told someone on the specialty team would get back with me.  Within a couple of days I was sick.  While I've heard back, in person, from the resolution center about a claim for $11.50, and had good conversations with first-line host help requesting assistance, I have been unable to get in touch with anyone knowledgeable about what to do re: sick guest and host in a home-hosting situation despite reaching out multiple times. 

I asked that my next guest be canceled, but no response; I was finally told I'd need to cancel the guest myself and, after doing so, did get a nice reply from the 1st line help saying,  in essence,

"Dear SuperHost,

We’re sorry you tested positive for Covid.  We’ve canceled your upcoming reservation without penalty and unblocked the dates.  I hope you and your family remain safe."

What the heck ??????  Thank heaven the next guest requesting those same dates was not an instant book and I had time to decline the booking.

This is very frightening to think that this far into the pandemic there is no protocol for guiding a host through dealing with an infected guest.  Clearly there are no performance standards for reaching out to hosts dealing with this situation.  It's been eleven days and still no contact other than from first-line help sending the standard 'clean well between guests' info.  Seriously???
As a host and new shareholder, I find this alarming and feel it has liability written all over it.
Other than replying to the Airbnb bot that asks if my situation has been resolved, there doesn't seem to be any option to contact anyone beyond first-line host help. Posting on Facebook seems like a very poor choice in light of the risk the company is facing by refusing to engage in any way.
Any thoughts about how to get through to someone to express my horror at the lackadaisical approach to this situation?

[Sarah977]

I'm not sure what resolution you are after. If a guest gets sick with COVID during a stay, they should obviously stay put and shelter in place so they don't expose anyone else and only leave after they test negative. And of course pay for the extra days they have to stay.

I see you have a completely separate suite with no shared spaces, so it wouldn't appear that you got sick from the guest but from elsewhere.

And Airbnb didn't impose any penalties for the cancelation of the next reservation, so, as I said, it's not clear what you are wanting.

@Marty9

[Marty9]

     I got sick because the guy couldn't figure out the TV.  I went in to reboot the FireTV and was in the room about three minutes.  Other than that, I went nowhere during the prior week.
     When I talk about performance standards and protocols, that's business 101.  Yes, I was able to discuss the situation with my guest, but with COVID, it's equally likely I might not have been able to do so.  Had he been whisked to the hospital the second time by ambulance and remained there, while his stuff remained at my place, then what?  Suppose he had needed to remain in place but been unable to pay?  Then what?  Would Airbnb have suggested I require him to relocate immediately; allow him to stay as I did; do something else entirely? 
     We still have a long way to go with this pandemic and being left without direction from the company when lives hang in the balance feels pretty sketchy. 

     What do I want?  I want support from the company that shares the liability with me; the one that has the legal team to advise the best course of action in this situation; the one who has, beyond doubt, dealt with this multiple times and played out the scenario to its various conclusions.  When disaster strikes, it's far better to have the advice of professionals rather than be a novice left guessing the best course of action and hoping for a good outcome.  

[Carol6369]

Correct 100%

[Marty9]

See my comments below.  
Do I have a right to ask for a negative test result before I insist he leave?  Is his health condition, beyond his notification of his positive status (shared as a courtesy) any of my business legally?  That's a question for Airbnb.  They're the ones who should be asking, if anyone.

[Lisa723]

@Marty9 you are not going to get what you want from Airbnb. All hosts need to understand that Airbnb is a booking platform, albeit one with many fingers in your business-- not a partner. We each need to look out for our own health, safety, policies and procedures. If you're not comfortable operating under this paradigm, you should shut down for the time being.

[Carol6369]

I have a separete apartment in my home, however we share the same HVAC system.  My guest came down with Covid and 5 days later so did I.

[Emilia42]

I agree with @Sarah977. If this happened to me I would like Airbnb to help cancel or contact future bookings that would be affected. But other than that I would hope the next steps would be discussed between the guest and myself about the safest way to move forward. I would hope Airbnb wouldn't need to get involved. 

[Marty9]

See my comments below.  While one would hope Airbnb wouldn't need to get involved, the fact that I can't reach them means I'm on my own whether I need to have them get involved, or not.  That's scary.

[Sarah977]

You do realize that any guest could be infected with COVID and contagious whether they have any symptoms or not? If you had to enter the unit when the guest was there, did you wear a mask, and did he, did you maintain distance and thoroughly wash your hands after touching anything in the guest suite? 

We are all responsible for ensuring our own safety and adhering to virus precautions, we can't expect some online rental platform to do that for us.

And yes, for most things, hosts are on their own- that is the reality. Airbnb isn't particularly host-friendly and their CS dept has taken a serious nose dive in the last year. 

@Marty9

[Marty9]

Yep to masks, distancing, hand washing.
You're right that Airbnb is not particularly host-friendly, especially these days.  I don't think it's asking too much, though, to have better customer service for a life-threatening issue than they provide for a $10 extra guest charge...