The new Covid-19 Mask requirement.

Renée40
Level 4
Toquerville, UT

The new Covid-19 Mask requirement.

I'm really concerned about airbnb's new demands that we wear a mask in our own homes. I can't do it, nor is it necessary here. I have a B&B, which by definition in our town means I run this business in my own home and care for my guests personally. 


I do social distance as much as the guest would like me to. I understand fear, and I respect another person's feelings in general. But this is beyond intrusive. Most businesses are not requiring masks in Southern Utah, it's just a suggestion as we are at yellow.


That's not really the point. The issue is that they are making one rule for the whole of North America without any regard to local conditions.


Yes Covid-19 cases continue to go up, but at the same time the hospitalization and death rate is going down down down. The people we know who have had the disease and recovered did so at home without a doctor's care. I'm aware this is anecdotal, but it is certainly our experience.


I'm much more afraid of overreaching mandates than I am of this disease at this point. It's obviously mutated as all viruses do and is not as virulent as it was once reported to be.

Here's a scenario for discussion; What if a host has already had it? Immunity has proven to be the norm, just as in the case  of other viruses. You can only get it once. That one study stating otherwise was proven false. So if a host has already gotten it and recovered then why would one need to wear a mask? 

Renee S Garner
96 Replies 96

Hi Cyndi,  If you will not be requiring guests to wear masks, how do you plan to answer AirBnB's requirement that we agree and comply. That is my dilemma.   In my province, Alberta, Canada,  if a guest says they have an exemption from wearing a mask under our Human Rights Act, I cannot question them and I must accommodate their exemption.  If I do not, they can file a complaint against me to the Human Rights Commission and if I am found in violation of their rights, I may be fined from $5000 to $10,000.  How will Air BnB support me in that case?  I am sending an email to Air BnB asking for what they will do, if anything, if this happens. So many situations in life cannot be forced into one box or solution and this is what is happening.  There are always extenuating circumstances and a fair and just system should consider that.

We do not need to be mandated to wear mask. Like you I live on 20 acres. 

I am already experiencing a decrease as a home host - I live in Brisbane Australia - we have basically no COViD.  It is a big detractor for me as a host and I would also say as a guest.  We simply don’t have the caseloads to make it a genuine concern.  Were circumstances different in my country I may think a little differently.

Aquisha0
Level 3
Hamilton, Canada

I will likely no longer be hosting on the platform while this mask requirement is in place. It seems to me that Airbnb has moved so far from the concept of everyday folks with an extra space renting it out for extra funds. This mask policy is overkill, overly intrusive and does not show logical evidence base policy making. Guests and host should be free to negotiate around what measures they feel will make them safe and comfortable in a private home. If someone is looking for hotel room sterility and distance then they ought to be staying in a public dwelling. This new policy is simply one more failure on Airbnb's part to support hosts and ballance the needs of guests.

@Aquisha0 I agree. Very frustrating. 

I absolutely agree with your sentences:

 

This mask policy is overkill, overly intrusive and does not show logical evidence base policy making. Guests and host should be free to negotiate around what measures they feel will make them safe and comfortable in a private home.

 

Airbnb should be with the hosts as well.

 

Best regards.

I agree 100%

Same.  I will likely not be hosting on Airbnb while the mask requirement is in place.  

Rosemary270
Level 3
Seacliff, Australia

I live in South Australia 

We have had 0 cases for about 5 months now. No one here wears masks. Social distancing sure but  It would actually be ridiculous to greet a guest wearing a mask here in SA.

I follow our state governments regulations and have committed to the COVID clean. Please trust  us to comply with our individual situations/cultures and government standards. 


I really  enjoy hosting via the air BnB platform but don’t appreciated being dictated to /threatened to shut my listing if I dont agree to a mask.

 

If the situation in my region changes I will comply but in the meantime a guest here in SA would be alarmed to see a host greet them wearing a mask.

 

Each region  of the world is in a different stage/situation.


Let us be governed  by our region. 
and all you keyboard  warriors lay off and stay on topic please.

 

This  is about Air BnB forcing a one size fits all policy on us and not trusting our common sense that’s all.

 

Rosemary 

David192
Level 10
Norwich, United Kingdom

I have to wonder why a guest who would insist on totally masked interaction would be travelling at all, rather than staying at home hiding under their bed. I suspect that there actually are no such people, and that this bizarre edict from AirBNB is about corporate virtue-signalling and covering themselves politically.

 

I suggest a new Amenity should be listed, alongside Iron and Laptop-Friendly Workspace, so that Covid obsessives could stay with Covid obsessives, and the rest of us could get on with our lives and judge our own comfort with risk. The Amenity tickbox could be called 'Bedwetter'.

@David192  There's no need to portray the act of trying not to catch a deadly virus in such a derogatory way. People who make an effort to mitigate their risks are neither hiding under their beds nor wetting them - it's an unprecedented situation in our lifetimes, and we're all still learning how to navigate it.

 

At the same time, I agree that a guest (or host) who isn't comfortable having unmasked interaction indoors with strangers right now is a poor fit for a shared household listing. My suggestion would be to suspend Instant Book and require some pre-booking communication both ways about practices and expectations - while assuring hosts that they won't be penalized for declining when it's not a match.

 

It's also a pipe dream, as a business like Airbnb is only going to act "socially responsible" when it's good for the bottom line.

We have been listing our spare bedroom that includes a private bathroom via Airbnb for three years. We take no more than two people at a time. Having had 66 FIVE-STAR reviews during these years we have been hosting (including 25 this summer of 2020) we have earned our Superhost badge.

 

We have not agreed to the Airbnb cleaning protocol but have ALWAYS taken good care to thoroughly clean both the shared spaces (kitchen, living room) and the private areas (bathroom, sitting area, and bedroom) between stays.

 

We do not have "Instant Booking"., and in our description paragraph, we state the following:

"*BEFORE BOOKING* Read guest/host requirements in the *Other Things to Note* below."

 

In the *Other Things to Note* we inform potential guests of the following three points:

 

1•  We must follow the Vermont Department of Health requirements for hosting and upon arrival they must be willing to sign a self-certification by filling a form issued by the VDH. We include in our communications the text of the affidavit they have to sign. (The text is a bit long to include here, but if a potential guest is not willing to sign it, we do not proceed with the booking.)

 

2 • We have always thoroughly cleaned the guest area between guest stays and in addition to normal toiletries, we provide hand sanitizer.

 

3• We welcome our guests with prayer hands and keep our distance, but we don't wear face masks at our home. Guests are not expected to wear them while in the house, but they can proceed as they feel most comfortable.

 

 -- Some people inquire about how we handle the COVID situation before they actually book.  So we send them the information above and, in some instances, with a thorough description of the relative location of shared and not shared spaces.

 

Most people book with us after they read this and many guests arrive wearing masks but opt to not wear them while in our home. Our reviews continue to be 5-stars for every aspect, including "Cleanliness"  and people have left nothing but positive comments after they stay with us. 

 

 For those who request a booking, without inquiring first, before approving, we restate the three points above and ask for a confirmation about their willingness to sign the affidavit by the VT Department of Health.

 

Only in one case, a person after having booked asked if we wore masks while cleaning. We clarified again that we do not wear masks in our home at any time. After a polite message exchange, we ended up asking her to kindly cancel her booking with us because this was not a good fit. She did and got a full refund. Also, our cancellation policy is the most flexible.

 

I share this as an example that pre-booking conversation between guests and hosts is possible and terms can be stated before people agree to be host or guests to each other. 

 

Given the experience shared above, I believe that  Airbnb would be better serving their "community" of guests and hosts if they allow this kind of pre-booking interaction so that we all take it as far as we can comfortably go, and bookings are mutually decided between guests and hosts on a case-by-case basis. 

@David192

@Anonymous 

"require some pre-booking communication both ways"

This is exactly what we have been doing, a lot of pre-booking communication. Read my post and example below. (I wanted it to be a response to this, but it did not go through.)

the only thing unprecedented with all this is the level of media propaganda and government lies.   in times like this there is no need to be mousy 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

How sad to see you talking about people trying to minimise the risk of Covid in such a derogatory way. @David192 

 

You live in London which has some of the highest Covid levels in the UK where thousands have died including our NHS staff.

 

We already are reaching peak capacity in our hospitals. 

if you want to continue to host there is no reason for you not to do all you can to minimise risks for you and your guests.

 

Having said that I think Airbnb should just indicate on a listing whether hosts and guests are expected to wear masks at all times so guests can make a choice