Keeping Infected guests out of my home

[Liz140]

Hey guys I am looking for some suggested wording (not advice) to use on my listing description.

So far the only thing I can think to do to make sure they see it, it to lead with it at the top of the page, but the message , no matter how I word it seems hostile.

So here's the issue. 9/10 guests that I get ,admit to never having read the house rules, (even though they get three messages to please  do that) and they check the little box.  

I currently do not wish to take any guests who have recently been in lockdown states or foreign countries.  Yesterday I got a guest from California, who had just returned from Brazil and arrived with a bad headache. He did not inform me of this until he had been in my home for over an hour. I didn't think much about it, except he went to bed at 6pm, and by 6am he was coughing and sneezing, looked flushed and generally ill. This was a one nighter so all I could do, scrub the floors, walls and everything else required to keep consequent guests and myself safe.

I want to discourage these types of guests without discouraging everyone, unfortunately no one is reading the house rules even though they click the box. I guess I could just oust them, if they are sneezing and claiming it's an allergy.... but I don't want to lose super host status. 

[Sarah977]

Honestly, anyone can be a source of infection, it has nothing to do with lockdown states (there are plenty of states which have high virus numbers who don't have lockdown) and those coming from other countries. And lots of people are infected, totally asymptomatic, and can still infect others. They don't have to be coughing or sneezing. The amount of cluelessness about this virus is astounding.

Many hosts have closed their listings to bookings until the virus threat is past. I haven't taken bookings since March- it's not worth the risk to me as a home-share host.

@Liz140

[Liz140]

I think at the very beginning I stated that I wanted wording, nothing else....

[Emilia42]

"To keep my family and guests safe I have closed my home-share listing for the unforeseeable future."

[Sarah977]

Well, I don't know how you can come up with wording that is discriminatory in nature and has no rational basis @Liz140

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Liz140 

IMO, there is no way to really know for sure who is infected or not so more or less everyone and anyone is a potential threat. 

At the top of my listing.......

NOTICE: TEMPORARILY CLOSED

We are a PRIVATE ROOM listing in a shared home - no bookings will accepted due to Covid-19.

[Cathie19]

@Jessica-and-Henry0, @Emilia42, @Sarah977 

Hi @Liz140,
Realistically, you’ve essentially answered your own question with the below statement, so not listening to viewpoints from strong and highly experienced hosts is a tad sad; but that’s your prerogative. We just hope to stay respectful of all persons who have taken the time to respond to you, whether we agree or disagree with one another. 

“So far the only thing I can think to do to make sure they see it, it to lead with it at the top of the page, but the message , no matter how I word it seems hostile.”

Better minds may come up with an answer, but I can’t think of any wording that isn’t hostile as you’ve stated, or discriminatory. No one wants Covid19 in their space, but sadly, it doesn’t come with a bright pink cloud around someone, to make it visible... whether infected, either symptomatic or asymptomatic.

So if you want to host in a shared environment, then follow the stringent cleaning and hygiene protocols, follow social distancing and use PPE. Remembering, the risk is much higher in a shared environment, then a separate space. Maybe if there are state or county by-laws that may assist you with regulations, then add the link to your listing. I have done this and also send my expectations for Covid19 protocols on site, in my response message.

I have government Covid19 signage laminated in our shared laundry area. As well as in the separate AIrbnb space. I have segregated washing machines, baskets, clothesline’s etc. Sanitisers, antibacterial wipes, hospital grade disinfectant etc are all at the entry point, with “disinfect surfaces” signage and “a Covid19 symptoms” sign, front and centre! But I am also in an area that has no community transmission. If there was community transmission I would shut shop without hesitation. Faster than you could hit “instant book”!

One night bookings are also more likely to increase the risk, when the turnover demand is more frequent. It can be problematic if unable to allow any resting/lead times for cleaning, as air transmission is no longer disputed.

Do you have any personal concerns, coming now in the winter months, with influenza, pneumonia  and whooping cough, which could place you in a hospital, amongst Covid19?

If there is little or no government regulations to support you, I would be snoozing my listing.

Life is too short...... for Covid19 complications and life changing conditions. Not to mention the mortality rate, that does exist across all age sectors. Financial costs from hospitalisation and chronic care, will vary with the individual. But totally your choice, unless legislated otherwise ...... 💐 

[Helen427]

Gosh, I have in the time prior to Covid19 hosted Guests who have coughed and sneezed or been unwell for whatever reason and would never oust them or leave the homeless, it's sadly one of the worst things to come out in the last nearly 12 months how inhumane people are to others in times of necessities of life.

Where has compassion and humanities gone to in this world?

@Liz140 

[Helen350]

@Liz140 Any good at poetry/verse/rhyme?? - I've observed it can be a gentle, witty & amusing way to issue a safety edict (thinking of signs I've seen on toilet doors - witty, rhyming verse about what not to put down the loo!) 

I particularly recommend an iambic tetrameter! 🙂

[Helen350]

"Before you rush to book my place,

Please read these rules to keep me safe.

If you're from an infected land,

Then I will have to take a stand.

The only folk I wish to host,

Covid free status they must boast..."

I invite others to help me out here & work on this....

Yes, @Sarah977 , @Jessica-and-Henry0 , @Cathie19 , no-one can legislate entirely out of Covid encounters, cos ANYONE might have picked it up somewhere....

But I'm trying to answer the question @Liz140 asked, rather than question the question!

[Anonymous]

@Helen350 That's almost cute, but if the UK isn't an "infected land," with its 1,787,783 registered cases of Covid-19 as of this writing (and undoubtedly many more by the time you read this) I don't know what is.

The only thing that seems to spread faster than this virus is total ignorance.

[Helen350]

Yes @Anonymous , I know!

I DID say I was working on @Liz140 's question; how to lay down your rules without being hostile! - Which does not mean I agreed with her premise, nor even the premise of my suggested ditty!

Liz said she wanted wording, not advice!

- My offering was a work of fiction, not fact! 🙂

[Anonymous]

@Helen350  It is indeed a good rhyme though, you'd be a natural rapper!

[Helen350]

@Anonymous 🤣🤣🤣

[Geri26]

Love it ❤️ @Helen350 !!!!! May have to borrow this verse if I may......

@Liz140  My listing profile is quite off putting at the moment as I’ve not updated since Covid hit Australia in March and not actively seeking guests at the moment. But with those guests who have requested to book recently, I ask them directly through the inbox if 

they’ve been to any Covid hotspots or suffering symptoms.

Asking potential guests directly rather than a blanket statement in profile makes them responsible and accountable for telling the truth - as much as they are prepared to. It may even give you recourse if they are ill but willfully concealed it.