Hosting Covid 19 Responders

[Cecilia46]

I opted in to host Covid 19 responders. Very quickly I had an instant booking for a guy who said he was a nurse from Florida responding to Covid 19. He said he will have a position at a Sacramento hospital. He also had 4 guests (2 adults/2 children). Perhaps I'm all wrong on this but it seems to me if a Covid 19 responder is getting a hefty discount or free to stay, he/she should not also be bringing his family. I couldn't get any help from Airbnb so I canceled the reservation. 

The next day I had an inquiry from another Covid 19 responder in a nearby town. She wanted to know if I was still hosting at a discount. The stay was to be for her and another guest. 

So my question is, if I give a serious discount to someone who "claims" to be a Covid 19 responder, should they be allowed to bring their family. If so, it seems that the spirit, if not the rules, of hosts offering free stays or discounted stays has been violated.

Also, if there are two people on the reservation, is Airbnb vetting the second guest to make sure that person is also a Covid 19 responder. 

At this point until I get more guidance from Airbnb help, I have opted out. I would love to participate, but I don't want to host someone who is gaming the system.

[Sarah977]

@Cecilia46  From what you've written, and what other posters here have said, this program is full of holes. A nurse working in a hospital with virus patients shouldn't be coming home to his family at the end of the day. That's one of the main reasons accommodation is needed for these people- so they can not expose others to infection if working in their own town, and have housing if coming in to fill a need somewhere else. Some medical workers are sleeping in their cars so as not to enter their family home. 

I wouldn't trust Airbnb vetting process for this at all- I'd be checking out a prospective essential worker's credentials myself and phoning the hospital or clinic or wherever they claim to be working to verify.

It's a real shame that this program isn't being monitored well by Airbnb and that hosts who are willing to offer free or discounted housing to first responders are being taken advantage of.

[Cecilia46]

Thanks for validating my concerns.

[Cecilia46]

Thanks for validating my concerns.

[Mark116]

@Sarah977  Its sad that people are such liars!  I wonder, would anyone believe that a 'first responder' was also bringing along his/her partner and children??  Isn't the whole purpose of them renting a hotel or airbnb so that they are separate from their own friends and family, thus, reducing the chance of infecting anyone else?  

[Jennifer1897 · Accepted solution]

First I will go by Airbnb's "Policy" for hosting first responders/frontline workers, then I will throw in my two cents....

"To host COVID-19 responders on Airbnb, your space needs to be an entire place without any other guests present." To me, this would indicate that the space is to be used solely by the first responder, and not other guest. The whole idea of self isolating, is so that individual does not cross contaminate anyone, especially considering people can be asymptomatic for 14+ days.

"Healthcare staff and first responders must be either affiliated with partner organizations or reviewed by Airbnb prior to check-in. This process helps ensure responders have a COVID-19 work assignment and are familiar with safety protocols. If Airbnb is unable to confirm a guest's COVID-related work prior to check-in, the reservation will be canceled." To me this would indicate that they are handling the tasks of verifying the credentials of first responders. How valid that verification is, I can not say.

Personally, I would decline those that attempt to bring others, including family. Are the scamming you? Maybe. The only way you can verify them, as you said so yourself, is asking for credentials. I am in a hospital daily that is fighting Covid 19. I can detest to the fact that 90% of us working there, are trying to avoid others, especially our families, at all cost. I would love to see my parents right now, but I would not want to risk exposing them. Personally, it surprises me that they are asking to bring additional people. 

I think it is great that you, and everyone else participating in this program are opening their homes to others during this time. Unfortunately, there is always going to be those who abuse the system, and then there is the flawed system itself.  

If possible, try changing your settings on your listing to make it so only one individual can stay. You can also update the verbiage in your listing to reflect that one person rule as well

Stay safe. 

[Cecilia46]

Thank you for the work you're doing and for giving your very specific two cents. Your response is most helpful in validating my concerns and my path forward.

[Lisa723]

@Cecilia46 @Mark116 @Jennifer1897 @Sarah977 

I would not assume the only legitimate requests are for single individuals. We've accepted three (for free) and are glad we did:

- a local single nursing student doing a local hospital rotation and needing to isolate from his parents and children with whom he normally lives

- a pair of travelling nurses both working on the front lines

- a local ER nurse and her child, needing to isolate from her parents with whom they normally live, for two weeks following her last shift

We declined one request for three days in July; the guest didn't respond to our questions.

[Helen3]

Did this guest come through the key worker scheme. If so, I thought they were vetting people @Cecilia46  Sadly clearly not.

I would ask them which facility they work at and their role. Confirm that they will need to show a photo ID and that the property is only available for those who share their ID in advance.

Personally I would just contact your local hospital and ask to register as an accommodation provider.

[Lisa723]

@Helen3 at least in my experience, hospitals don't necessarily have any such registration. I contacted the local hospital and the county health department; neither did.

[Helen3]

I work for our NHS (national health service) in the UK and all our hospitals have teams that are dealing with accommodation needs for existing and additional staff under the Corona virus.

Our hospitals have been using hotels, motorhomes etc for their staff. 

It's surprising your hospitals don't help staff with accommodation needs.

[Mark116]

@Helen3  The U.S. is sometimes almost like a macro version of airbnb....random, disorganized, often fails to do the obvious, but still often manages to succeed in spite of itself.  It's also an issue here that people are much more litigious than the UK, so possibly hospitals and other orgs don't want to be on the hook for recommending any housing if a person would then get the virus from that location...just a guess on my part. I went to both my city and the local med center web sites and there didn't seem to be anywhere to 'volunteer' any accommodation, however, that was in March, so maybe they're more organized now. 

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  I'm not sure if all hospitals have such things, but I know at the hospital where my nurse friends worked in Canada, in the staff lounge area, they had a big bulletin board. I was there once and saw ads on there for apartments to rent, and all sorts of things. So if a host had a connection to someone on the hospital staf, that might be a place to put up a notice.

[Mikki0]

@Cecilia46 

I decided to shut this feature off when I got a booking from a verified nurse, who wasn't looking for a place to stay so she could be closer to the front lines, but because she wanted to take a vacation. She basically took advantage of the fact she was a nurse to get better pricing for a vacation. 

[Pat271]

@Mikki0  How was she “verified”?  I have a guest who is going through Airbnb’s first responder program to book with me.  Does Airbnb ask for the hospital work orders where they will be working when they apply for the program?