Do you ask guests for proof of a negative COVID test or proof of their vaccination status?

[Huma0]

Hello hosts. I know this has been discussed here and there on the CC, but I wanted to start a topic to gauge what people are doing currently. I am a home host with three guest rooms in my own house, so often have a non-related different guests staying. Due to the pandemic, I didn't host for much of 2020 and 2021, but my financial situation (I lost most of my other income due to the pandemic) makes it very difficult to stop hosting altogether. I do not want tourists and other short term guests in and out of my house but I host long term stays anyway. I still want to ensure these are as safe as possible.

The first thing I have been doing is to make sure that guests coming from overseas fully understand the current entry/testing/self isolation requirements and I do not let guests self isolate/quarantine at my house as it's a shared home. This has already caused a lot of strife, but it is clearly stated on my listing and I am sticking to my guns.

I have, sometimes, asked guests about their vaccination status. This is easier to do with overseas guests as their status will determine which rules apply to them on entry to the UK. 

One thing I have never done, until now, is to ask guests for proof of a negative COVID result. The reason I have done this recently is because I had a guest delay their check in when they said they tested positive. However, there is something not quite right here. If a guest sends you a photo of a negative home test, how do you even know A. who took the test (unlikely the guest would lie about this or B. when they took it (more likely they would lie)? As PCRs and even LFTs are becoming quite hard to get hold of here in England, would you accept this as proof or would you want a test certificate?

I don't want to interrogate guests or have to take on the role of a private detective but, seeing as this is the first time I've asked, I've realised that I'm pretty powerless to know whether the test result is valid or not...

[Huma0]

What would you do if you knew a guest had recently had COVID and was checking in right after the self isolation period? I understand this might be less of an issue in a self contained listing with self check in etc. but even then... You/the cleaners/whoever cleans the property, the next guests etc. still have to be considered. Also, from what I have read on the CC, Airbnb can suspend all your listings/cancel forthcoming reservations for varying amounts of time if it turns out a guest staying there has COVID.

[Robin925]

Its horrible. They will suspend your listing without warning and without reason, when their policy states that you can have the place cleaned and sanitized. I used to have two rooms for rent and a common area. I dealt with the same issues. Yet hosting shared spaces during the pandemic was becoming a problem, because not many good guests wanted to share spaces. So, I spent $12,000. over the past few months to divide the space into two units and had another bathroom installed and another entry. It looks beautiful. I have now two fully functioning in law type suites and they are making decent money. However, the issue of a Covid positive guest who I suspect came here to quarantine and did not tell me until I asked about her coughing turned into my normal inquiry with Airbnb Customer Service and they said that it was fine they were going to get back to me to help me manage the situation and instead they suspended one of my listings without warning and have not returned contact for several days. WOW, that is such a bunch of __ if Ive ever seen it. Tell your hosts that they can reasonably function through a pandemic to properly notify guests of their responsibilities, and to communicate well with them, to get the truth of their status as sick or well, and then to have the guest leave the place with windows open so it could air out and then host has the pace fully cleaned and sanitized by a professional team and Airbnb suspends the listing, with no other information other than it was due to the guests Covid positive status. No contact to let you know for how long it's suspended either. If I were to guess from the other comments from others who had this happen, it is a very big risk on having your listings suspended or removed for long periods of time. 

If I were in your shoes, I would try to divide the listing if you can afford it, or only rent to one person and keep your place separate. Put tape along the edges of door and do not enter those spaces ever. I've even gone so far as to use a composting toilet for myself at times I had the contractors here and could not use the bathroom. It was tough, but I kept some cash flow. If you can afford a real renovation to make the spaces separate it might make it possible to rent long term without issues. Now dealing with the Customer Support team and these rotten guests who thing they can come to a strangers home to settle in and get sick and all the nonsense, is another story. I put it in my listing a reminder of Airbnb's Covid policy for guests and host so they know they will be booted out if they have symptoms. 

[Sarah977]

@Robin925  It's great that you were able to renovate to accommodate the pandemic restrictions and issues. But there is no way that Huma's place would lend itself to such a thing.

As far as Airbnb suspending your listing, it's so unfair that they have been doing this to hosts whose listings pose no danger to guests. 

The upshot is that hosts should try to handle the situation themselves, without ever involving Airbnb, because they don't care about destroying your business,nor cancelling upcoming guests- pointless virtue signalling seems to be their priority.

[Robin925]

@Huma0 I would like to add that I took a look at your listings and they are gorgeous. You have done a fantastic job of decorating your Victorian. The rooms are so spacious and the decor so beautiful, I can see why guests choose such experience for a house sharing experience. I am in the Southwest of the United States, and I recognize the culture of house sharing is different here.

That said, I just received a formal letter from Airbnb in regards to the situation that I mentioned in my previous post. They have suspended my listing for 7 days and require me notify them of anyone whom the sick guest came in contact with. They are doing this for contact tracing purposes and suspend the listing in order to insure no outbreak from this property. The unit, of course, needs to be fully cleaned and sanitized according to Airbnb protocol, only after 24 hours has passed. I do not know the regulations in UK but I think things here in the US are in general less strict for contact tracing than Europe. But Airbnb is being extremely strict to apparently stop any potential for spread.

I would not want to give unwanted suggestions, only a different perspective nohow to manage pandemic and hosting experience.  I think your home is very beautiful and I can understand why you would want to share it. However a thought in order to avoid any potential of suspension or outbreak is perhaps only during the pandemic you could... If your home has two separate entrances, close off your side of the house. You might be able to keep one bathroom (or have a small simple one installed) and either have an owners unit made with a little kitchenette, (or install a small separate studio style kitchen) you would have a private living quarters. You could then rent the rest of your property as one unit. I suspect if you offered the two bedrooms, living room, main hallways, one bathroom, and kitchen as one unit on Airbnb or other hosting platform, you could fetch at least three times or more of what you are charging for just each individual room. It is a thought and although it may be less comfortable for you and your family, and the joy of meeting guests is lost, the safety would be assured, income consistent and you would have control over no cross-contact.  These are tough times and house sharing is a very hard thing during a public heath crisis. 

[Huma0]

@Robin925 

Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear about the trouble you had from Airbnb. Having heard about many similar experiences from other hosts on the CC, I think that I have to agree with @Sarah977 that it might be better to deal with theses situations directly than to involve Airbnb CS. It seems like they employ blanket policies in these cases rather than considering the specifics of the listing/home set up.

Thanks also for your kind comments about my house and your suggestions. Unfortunately, it would be impossible to divide up the house in such a manner. There is only one entrance from the street and one central staircase to access any rooms above the ground floor. There is no space to add an extra bathroom or kitchenette but, even if there was, there would be no way to access either without passing through communal areas. 

So, the choice is really to host or not host. Certainly I could host less people, which is what I was doing for much of the pandemic, but the same issues would apply RE COVID. The risk would just be reduced.

[Robin925]

@Huma0 I used to own a three flat in the suburbs of Chicago. It was an old Arts and Crafts home that had been converted to three units before I purchased it. There was an outdoor enclosed stairwell which went to all three units in the back  and the front entrance had an added vestibule with separate doors entring to the first floor unit and the grand stairwell going to the second floor (rental) was accessed also through a door to the vestibule. It was aqward, because the entry did not fit the style of the home and a rather poorly decorated rental on the second floor had the privilege of including an enormous old fashioned Arts and Crafts stained glass window in the grand stairwell. I thought it was an unusual repurposing of a home but the once privileged neighborhood had gone through a period of decline then back to middle class. I understand your dilemma as the house really can dictate the right layout and aqward entries are not easily redone. I think you may be on the right track for your situation. Pre-screening guests could be the solution. Best of wishes with it.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Huma0 The UK policy appears to be aiming for a vaccinated version of herd immunity. As such with isolation cut to around 5 days there seems little point in covid tests especially for long term guests. If I were home sharing I would be far more interested in vaccination status.

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

That's a good point. However, the self isolation period if you test positive for COVID doesn't work out to 5 days, it's a bit longer. The day you test (or first experience symptoms) is day 0. You then have to take a test on day 6 and another on day 7 before you're supposed to end your quarantine. So, effectively 8 days in total. Unless something has just changed, but I checked it earlier today?

You and @Debra300 are right in that vaccination status is probably more important. What prompted me to ask this question was that I have guests coming, one of whom said he tested positive and has had symptoms at least up until two days before the rescheduled arrival and the other, his boyfriend, is obviously a close contact, so is supposed to have been testing as well, even if he didn't have to self isolate.

I asked the guest to send me test results. This evening he sent me a photo of a home test, showing negative. What I was expecting was actually a test certificate with a date and his name, although I know the it's not that easy to get PCRs anymore, but thought that if you had COVID, that was still a possibility.

Anyway, the thing is, the photo could have been taken at any time (Airbnb messaging system doesn't show any info on when an image was taken) or could even be someone else's result. Although it's quite unlikely the guest would go to this much trouble to fake it when they are not trying to get a refund, it does make me think that it's very difficult to tell...

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

There are home tests which include remote supervision by a medical professional.  These get official test results, and these or formal lab results would be what I would require if a guest informed me of their very recent infection.  If the guest balked, I'd remind him that he wouldn't be allowed on planes or ships with home test kit results. 

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Yes, I have heard of those, but have never heard anyone here say they've used them. I will look into it! Thanks 🙂

[Helen3]

Hi @Huma0  for UK guests you just ask them to upload their lateral flow test onto their NHS app. 

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

Unfortunately, many people I know (not just guests) have deleted the App because they do not like to get 'pinged'! 

[Katrina79]

@Huma0 @It’s a bit redundant at this point, omicron is infecting many. Requesting a negative test from one guest while hosting another who is free to bring it from anyplace they may have picked it up doesn’t make sense at this point in the pandemic. Also, it’s questionable if you have the right to request a negative test (which is of course not always accurate). You could though request guests to wear N95 masks while in common areas, you could even provide one per guest, assuming of course you can find some for purchase. I believe this worry will subside quickly for the time being, London is well coming out of their omicron surge. 

[Huma0]

@Katrina79 

Yes, requiring negative tests would only help if you require them from all guests and on an ongoing basis, rather than just for check in.

In the particular circumstance that prompted me to ask the question, the guest had tested positive and needed to delay his check in until he had isolated and taken the day 6 and 7 tests. I asked to see those test results. 

Recently, I asked guests arriving in the UK, and therefore required to take the Day 2 test, to provide the result before check in. None of those guests have actually checked in yet as they have either cancelled or changed their dates, so I don't know yet if guests would be happy to share their results but, so far, no one has protested. Although, as you say, one negative test isn't gong to ensure the safety of my home, but seeing as they are required but the government to do the tests anyway, there seemed no harm in asking, and it's better than nothing.