As of March 22, 2020, San Bernardino County has made a "no exceptions" public health order that all short term rentals immediately shut down, cancel all pending reservations, no longer process any reservations for the foreseeable future. At a minimum, everyone must block their calendars for April, cancel all April reservations and be prepared to do the same for May and possibly even June as it gets closer.
http://wp.sbcounty.gov/cao/countywire/?p=5626
Residents in many rural areas, including the Morongo Basin (Joshua Tree area) are very agitated that tourists are still freely coming and going because this area has very few healthcare resources already and if visitors either get seriously ill or bring serious illness into the local community, it will overwhelm the system immediately. That is another way of saying "a whole lot of people will die."
It's always a delicate balance to stay in the local community's good graces, and the last thing any of us need is for fearful residents to see our guests (or us/our homes) and think "that person might be killing us right now."
Close up, block out April. and let's all keep in touch about possible relief for our financial losses.
Speaking of, it sure would be nice if Airbnb would be proactive and organize/administer a specific and simple "economic injury" loan process for its hosts - the platform has all the data for legally - mandated blocked dates like these and our coronavirus cancellations, and could eliminate all the red tape of trying to prove our losses to an overwhelmed Federal bureaucracy.
