Guest from China and Corona virus

[Annie-Busk0]

Hi can anyone help please. I received a booking from China yesterday for a stay at my place next week. With the news about the Chinese Corona virus: How worried should I be?

[Sandra126]

Not just china any more. Might be time to pause listings if you are hosting a room in your house. This is not helpful, I know, and grim. In today's news both south Korea and Italy are in partial lockdown. 

[Smiljana1]

Now what to do about a guest arriving from the affected province in Italy????

[Sandra126]

@Smiljana1 , I think they are not letting anyone out or in. So there will be cancellations, if there is a booking made. @Lizzie , cancellation policy is definitely needing an overhaul!

[Lizzie]

Hello @Sandra126,

I hope you are ok. 

The Airbnb policy is being regularly updated based on guidance from the World Health Organisation. We have a post linking to the Help Center articles here in the CC. Do take a look if you haven't seen it. (It's also stuck to the top of the Help board). 

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[M179]

I believe that a simple box on the Air  b&b reservation form to indicate if a guest has travelled from any country with known cases of the virus should be added immediately. We as hosts I believe have a right to know this information just as Air b&b asks for other personal information from guests wanting to make a reservation. I have brought this to their attention at Air B&b but they are reluctant to do this. Air b&b hosts need to demand this simple checked box on reservation form be added to protect all hosts and their families.

[John2563]

I don't disagree with your sentiment about having a tick box but I have taken it upon myself to ask 2 simple questions.

1 Are you in good health

2 Have you traveled to any country with the Covid-19 virus in the past 14 days.

So far the response I have had is amazing people are happy to respond positively. I then reassure them that the same applies to us and that we are all in good health and have not traveled to infected areas within the last 14 days.

It's about open dialouge and reasurances. I feel it's the best I can do to help check that my family and country are protected.

[Wendy117]

I live on my own below my apartments.  Although I am in the high risk age/health group, I have decided to try to help these people taking the utmost care.  I have one Chinese group in one apartment who have been in Australia already for one month - I checked their passport.   I have another Chinese family arriving today direct from Shanghai - they are emigrating to Australia.  They will self quarantine for 14 days in my other apartment and I will not meet them.  Their local family will deliver all supplies to them.  Any soiled linen they must place in a plastic bag and I will not touch it until after the 14 days.  They are so desperate as everyone is turning them away. Watch this space 🙂

[Helen427]

hello @Wendy117 , how are things with you and these Guests working out?

Have you been checked to see if you have any symptoms of Corona virus/ Covid19?
We all need somewhere to stay in life where ever we are .

Hope this reaches you well and all worked out well for everyone.

All the best from across the ocean in Auckland, New Zealand

[Wendy117]

@Helen427  All good.  They checked out yesterday - Day 16 - all still very healthy.  It must have been hard for them but they never once left the house for the 14 day isolation period.  Especially hard for the 9 year old girl.   They were chafing at the bit just to go for a walk on Day 15.

They have just emigrated to Australia and certainly followed the rules better than our locals have - who, due to their continued congregation at clubs, pubs & beaches, have now forced the government to close them all and all the job losses that entails.

I did not go near them and only spoke to them when they popped their heads out of an upstairs window.  Still, I am not going upstairs to clean until after a week just to be extra careful as I am in the high risk group.

I watch NZ news carefully, I am originally from Dunedin and had booked a holiday to Cuba in April with my Dunedin family.  Oh well - I guess that will be April 2021.

Tough times.

[Christi34]

I temporarily turned off my instant book feature. I’m probably not going to accept international travelers until the public knows more and we can get definitive answers.