Keep the COVID-19 Cleaning Protocol Voluntary

[Marianne294]

I urge Airbnb to keep the cleaning protocol solely voluntary. It’s great for those hosts to stand out with a cleaning protocol badge, and for guests who are especially concerned about that to be able to find those properties.

If a host voluntarily says they follow the protocol, they are more likely to diligently follow it. Moreover, if guests find evidence that they didn’t, the guests’ reviews hold that host/property accountable. On the other hand, if Airbnb threatens all hosts into following the protocol, I’m sure some hosts will not be as diligent, and guests are sure to discover that. If all are said to follow the standard and even one proves not to, the standard becomes meaningless and goes from goodwill to bad. I would think it could even open Airbnb and hosts up to lawsuits.

Although I appreciate the protocol as a cleaning help, I personally prefer not to mark my property as under the cleaning protocol. There’s still too much unknown about COVID, and it’s impossible to clean every inch of a house and the things in it. (Think about a deck of cards even!) I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking my house is totally sanitized against COVID. If I were high risk and felt that COVID posed a threat to my life, I’d stay home or do my own sanitizing wherever I went. I don’t want to give my guests that false COVID-free assurance that no one can give.

I love Airbnb. It’s simplicity and the way the ratings work to hold everyone accountable for themselves is brilliant. I appreciate the low overhead that Airbnb charges which I think comes with that simplicity. I urge Airbnb to keep this cleaning protocol voluntary, allowing individuals (both hosts and guests) to determine their own priorities. Let hosts decide what they want to offer, and let guests decide what they’re looking for.

[Emiel1]

@Marianne294 

I agree !!

Also read:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Calling-Airbnb-to-revise-host-obligation-to-Covid-19-safety...

[Michael-and-Shelly0]

Looking at airbnbs track record, and in particular their response to covid, it has been entirely self serving.  They say one thing paint a pretty picture, but in the end they are asserting a political and financial agenda for themselves.  dont think for one minute they will listen to hosts.  They want the free market when it favours them and then they want to be the bully dictating how you can run your business when it looks good.

[Anne406]

This is an article posted in The NY Times this morning, about Covid’s spread and the fact that it is not proven to be spreading on surfaces, but that airing a house is more important. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/world/asia/covid-cleaning.html?referringSource=articleShare

Airbnb should rethink the cleaning protocols they have put in place.

[Jen-Marie0]

I agree with this thread that their should be a differentiator on cleaning protocol - for us it was easy to implement the protocol because we were already doing the majority of items on the list before we were asked to - but I also think that airing out the unit and ensuring a long time gap in between guests is just as important as the cleaning process itself.

Also no one is verifying that you actually did the cleaning protocol - this is all an honor system at best. Which is scary to me because if people do actually start to get sick because of their Airbnb stay it is a problem for all of us.

[Anonymous]

@Jen-Marie0  It's true, nobody can possibly be credibly verifying that the protocol was adhered to. Instead, hosts are being held under the threat of being denied an entire booking's payout if a guest claims (even without empirical evidence) that they believe the protocol wasn't followed. 

I agree that Airbnb should eliminate the compulsory element of its suggested cleaning protocol - and also give it room to evolve in tandem with pandemic and our understanding of it. I also don't believe for a minute that the policy has anything to do with public health and safety. If it did, the guidance would not be to use Hygiene Theatre to create an artificial sense of security, but rather to minimize unnecessary travel to the greatest extent possible in affected areas. But there's no money in that, so....

[Debra300]

@Anonymous,

You are correct to call out Airbnb's hygiene theatre.  Their COVID-19 safety practices are disingenuous regarding concern for the health and safety of guests and hosts, because there are other activities that can negatively impact the health and welfare of both guests and hosts.  The guidelines require that guests and hosts must wear face masks whenever they are in a common space, whether someone else is there or not (no specific reason is given for this policy).  However, a host can smoke or allow smoking in their home, and everyone inside is exposed to secondhand smoke, which can be also extremely harmful to the respiratory system, and potentially have long-lasting effects or be fatal.  Yet Airbnb dare not cross the line to tell hosts if they or their guests can smoke in the rental space.

[Marianne294]

I agree. Getting this information from credible sources is what we most need. Much of the cleaning protocol has now been determined to be obsolete in fighting the spread of Covid. We just need to do our best with the information we get, and change as it changes. 

@Anne406 

[Dee219]

As the poster above wrote we all need to do our best, in Australia a cleaner in a specialised quarantine hotel picked up covid from a surface (according to the news) and sent one state into lockdown. Virus behavour is still unknown, I did appreciate the airbnb covid cleaning protocol and checklist because it is a systematic reminder that even though I was doing most of that already, the added tasks are higher level sanitising, airing spaces and having days between bookings.

[Helen744]

Helen@744. Hi Dee,I agree . The cleaning protocol has certainly sharpened us up but at least we know we have done our best.I have bought a ton of cleaning products this year as well as providing the guests with their own . Leaving doors and windows open is we are told very effective.The time between guests becomes critical as we do not just need to clean but to allow the disinfectant time to do its thing. I use disinfectant wipes as a final going over and these are useful for remotes ,tvs,doorknobs .surfaces ,sidetables ,lamps ,window ledges etcetera. Soft furnishings like cushions must be easy care fabric and fabric chairs are a bit of a no no. Kettles and cupboards  it all makes us remember why we get paid but in the long run I think those of us who do our own cleaning are better off than those who dont especially if you pay people by the hour. We do not get out of our airbnb under two hours and that is two of us.