Hosts may want to read this when considering how to clean

[Sarah977]

I just read this article which makes it clear how quickly so many surfaces can be contaminated by those who are infected with no symptoms.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/presymptomatic-virus-patients-can-contaminate-environments-study/

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Thanks for sharing @Sarah977 

Really great reading material for anyone who plans to or wants to host despite covid-19. I personally believe that asymptomatic people pose the biggest risk and threat. Social distancing is not about protecting yourself, but more about being vigilant to protect anyone and everyone around you. 

On a completely different note..... I've been sniffling a little these past few days due to allergies and have noticed people are avoiding me like the plague :-))) 

[Kath9]

@Sarah977 exactly why we should not be too hasty in opening up again and if we do be absolutely thorough in cleaning. It also means that onsite hosts like us are at risk. Thanks for sharing.

[Melodie-And-John0]

Thanks @Sarah977 , that's good info, the more we know, the better we can defend ourselves and now even mount a formidable offence against C19.  As little as 4 months ago, we knew nearly nothing about this terrorist- that was then, this is now!  My wife and I have and employ a war-chest of Auto, semi automatic, direct fire weapons, perimeter defense policies and new eradication tactics to launch against the sneak, Viral IED and full frontal attack.  Two of my favorites are M & M, (Masks and Microban)!  You can almost hear the little viral devils screaming with each squeeze of the trigger and spritz like a mini flamethrower hit them.  Its all good!  Enough Infantry jargon!

I have noticed that nobody here on this site that I have seen has actually caught the bug that they know of, although I do think my wife and I both did in February before we even really knew this was here.  We havent yet been able to get the antibody test yet but if so, I would still be the first and only host I know.  Just for the heck of it, I searched for "how many Airbnb hosts have contracted coronavirus", In 3 pages, I found exactly zero responses that gave an answer that was Covid 19 positive.  That tells me that so far, the only thing consistently hitting hosts en mass is cancellations, we must be doing something right or Google stats would clearly show we weren't. 

We have been open throughout the outbreak and @Kath9 , If we didn't have ways to ensure distancing, separation and such, I'm sure we would have sat this one out.  Our bookings are down 75%, in some ways that might be good, I gave us time to war-game, select and train on the solutions that we're now actively using to not only survive but learn how to thrive, chew gum and walk at the same time.  There are no promises that we wont face risks even with the mitigating actions and reactions we are taking but it was a risk to walk out of the house before C19, that didn't stop us from walking out every day.  Stay well all, JR

[Anonymous]

@Melodie-And-John0  I haven't personally been sick this year, but I know at least two hosts (one in New York, one in Italy) who have tested positive. One was hospitalized and is still suffering respiratory trouble over a month later. Neither belongs to a known high-risk group as far as I know. Like the overwhelming majority of Airbnb hosts, neither is active in this forum, and for obvious reasons neither would publicize the fact that they were Airbnb hosts with Coronavirus. So it's not surprising that you didn't find out about them by asking Google. Just because they probably have this data doesn't mean it's searchable.

I've spoken privately with several STR hosts who have had milder symptoms that might be Covid-related but haven't been tested, generally because patients with severe symptoms had higher priority for those limited resources. And who knows, maybe when antibody testing is more widely available it will turn out that a lot more of us had it without knowing.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , "And who knows, maybe when antibody testing is more widely available it will turn out that a lot more of us had it without knowing", Yes and the data bears that out more every day.   

<3% of the US have been tested for Corona Virus, <1%,  (.004%) of the US has tested positive for the virus and way less than 1%.(.0003%) have died from it.  Only 14% of those tested have been positive for the virus and most every person tested until recently was either symptomatic or confirmed to have been exposed to the virus.

The Antibody testing is still in its infancy so the numbers arent in yet but the trends show lots of folks had it that have not been tested for it until this point cause they were either asymptomatic or had no ties with anyone that tested positive.  That trend also beats back the statistics in theory.  

About the only figures statistically significant in the numbers I threw out were the deaths (cause thats people who died and tested positive at one time or another during their last illness), they are relatively accurate so the actual  percentage of folks that are dying from complications of this literally goes down every single day until we stop testing for active and immunity cases.   No time soon to be sure.  So I'm not saying this isnt dangerous but at this moment, a snapshot in time, I technically have better chances of winning the Power Ball Lottery than contracting this virus and dying.  I think I'm going to keep my day job and my night one for now.  Stay well, JR

[Sarah977]

@Melodie-And-John0 Don't know where you are getting your death rate percentage numbers, but of the known cases in the US that have been resolved, i.e. those that definitely had the virus and either survived or died, the death rate is 25%. That is, a quarter of the people who have gotten it for sure, have died. And the resolved case death rate worldwide is 14%. 

Now if the total of about 1,500,000 infected in the US is actually 10 times higher than that because there isn't adequate testing, that would of course bring the death rate down. But currently there are no figures that I have seen to back up a claim of "way less than 1%".

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  Everything I have seen, including  a new study out today, puts the death rate at between 1-4%, I haven't seen anywhere that 25% of the people with the virus are dying.  In the US appx. 1.5 million have been confirmed to be infected and of that 90,000 have died, if it was 25% death toll would be almost 400,000.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

[Emilia42]

It's also important to factor in that a large majority of those who got tested (positive) are the ones who were so sick that they seek medical attention. There are millions that are sticking this out at home. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adj8MCsZKlg

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  What I am talking about is the resolved case death rate. Most percentages that are being reported are based on the total number of infected, both those who have had it and recovered or died, and those who are currently infected. But if one is comparing to death rates for other diseases, like influenza, those diseases have been around for long enough that the death rate for those are based on resolved cases. 

And even if you are looking at the death rate for total number of cases, the US is hovering around 6%, not 1-4% I don't know where you folks are getting your news from.

https://covid19info.live/

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  Okay, no offense, but the resolved case death rate doesn't seem very helpful to me, I'm interested in the overall death rate, what percent of people who get COVID die, and that is nowhere near 25%.  The 6% figure is based from only the number of people who have tested positive, which logically, only represents a part of the total number of people who have had the virus, since most people who don't need medical attention haven't been tested and the antibody test is not yet widely available.   

[Melodie-And-John0]

Hi Sarah, I purposely didn't quote percentage of tested that died but according to the CDC, thats those who tested positive in the USA and didnt survive is about 5.9%, so that might be a useful figure if 100% of Americans got tested instead of only 3% that we have sampled to date.   

Demographically, most of were older folks in nursing homes that were most at risk and had pre-existing  health issues.  Many got it from recovering younger corona patients dropped in Old folks homes by our state to clear out hospital beds, that should have been a criminal act by the way but they promise not to do that anyymore....  Those infection vs recovery or death rates in those care communities are not representative of the general public.

86% test negative for C19 of those who get tested due to being directly exposed and or are symptomatic, those numbers actually track pretty clearly cause symptoms in most are noticeable so its the asymptomatic folks  in the untested 97% that are the wildcard we just cant count today.  JR

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  If the virus can live up to 7 days, then that seems to present a fairly stark choice, because I don't believe that anything but industrial size cleaning apparatus like those huge room size UVA lights and sprayers is going to be able to clean at 100%, there is too much room for human error, even with a standard 'professional' cleaning crew, so we either stay in lock down until there is a vaccine, or we open up and everything is more careful in protecting themselves.  I  just don't think it is realistic to think that hotels, STR, retail stores, parks,  are going to all be able to hit a cleaning level every single day that reaches 100% of potential surfaces totally sanitized.

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  I can't say whether hotels, stores, parks, etc. are going to be safe in that way- I think we'll all have to continue to be pro-active when going out in public-be aware of trying not to touch surfaces unnecessarily, carry hand santizer with us, etc.

But I don't see it as being that onerous to sterilize a home properly. The hard surfaces they mentioned in that article are all things most responsible hosts would sterilize as a matter of routine anyway-faucet handles, light switches, etc. So maybe now, on the other surfaces we may have just damp wiped before, we wipe with a bleach or alcohol solution instead. Doesn't seem that difficult. The thing in that article that jumped out at me most was all the virus they found on the bedding- that indeed would probably need to induce a shift in the way hosts or their cleaners do things- no more just whipping the bedding off the bed and throwing it on the floor or carrying an armload to the washing machine. It will need to be carefully balled up, and transferred into a plastic bag for transport to be washed and not just flung around the laundry room, either.

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  How are you going to sterilize rugs, upholstered furniture and drapes?  You would either have to be spraying it down with toxic chemicals multiple times a week, for a hotel or airbnb, or it is a potential source of live virus.  I suppose everyone can move to no rugs, no upholstered furniture and no drapes, but otherwise, I don't see how it is possible to in reality sterilize 'everything' every day. 

ETA:  if everyone starts doing single use plastic bags to carry out bedding, the ocean will be full in no time.  There would have to be a better solution than something so wasteful and inherently destructive to the environment.