Covid cleaning and hosting protocols need to be relooked at

[Melodie-And-John0]

I have worked in a University for a couple few decades and I was just chatting with one of my professors who happens to be a highly respected Chemist and he was spouting about how a year after the outbreak, he is still required to bring his own chalk and eraser to teach and if he forgets it, custodians are told to throw it out.   He admitted it was a fine  reaction when we didn't know anything about the transmission of Covid but a year later, we know that contact is very unlikely to transmit covid unless your sneezing, wheezing and snotting all over things and even then, it doesn't survive long.   

All one has to do to see what the differences between being OCD about things and casual is look at California (OCD lockdown state) vs Florida (Free Willey) infection and death rates, they are within a couple points of each other, (within the margin of error).   Comparing other statistics like Educational effects and small business failure rates are not within the margins of error, Cali gets a failing grade on both, Florida on the other hand is educating its kids 5 days a week and the doors are open on its businesses all week long.  As a member of the Once and future Great state of New York, you see the same stats play out between Upstate and NYC, NYC is closed for business, whereas Upstate is open for business and teaching kids in person.   

A year into the Pandemic, things have changed, we now know important things scientific medical and psychological we didn't 6 months ago, shots are going into arms, hospitalizations and deaths are decreasing at a rapid rate  and its time to reconsider the Covid response rules and regulations here before they turn us all into Cali and NY City, silent shells of what they were.   I implore Airbnb to do its part, follow the science and change with the situation as the situation changes, it is changing and we need to be competitive or we wont exist as businesses.  It would be good if we could unify our voices on this and demand the "temporary"  changes get rolled back.   We are modern day Inn Keepers, the second oldest profession on the planet, we need to be fully open for business and the mother ship needs to lead us to that place sooner not later before we are forced to reconsider the wagon we have hitched our horses to!   Thoughts?  Stay well, JR

[Pat271]

I couldn’t agree with you more.

The tendency of human nature is to latch onto a finding, create a mindset around it, and develop habits in response. It then becomes less natural to just abandon the mindset when new information invalidates the finding.

We need to be more flexible and adapt more readily as current knowledge about this virus evolves.

[Nikolai12]

Couldn’t agree more! Time to move forward.

[Emilia42]

I think many people have secretly moved on. 

[Karen912]

@Melodie-And-John0 

I also work at a university, in the maintenance department, and know that getting advise from faculty outside their specialty doesn't necessarily add a whole lot more credence to an argument than getting an opinion from someone outside the academic world. As a side note, I suggest you mention to your chemist friend that he should be more concerned about the health impacts of chalk dust on teaching staff than having to bring his own chalk to class, and request that the university replace all blackboards and chalk boards on campus with white boards.

You mentioned that the Covid-19 infection and death rates in Florida and California are similar despite California being the "OCD lockdown state" and Florida being "Free Willey" about Covid restrictions. Comparing only the infection and death rates per capita between states is not a very accurate way of determining what future actions are safe in a pandemic situation. Many factors contribute to the infection and death outcomes in a pandemic, such as density of the populations, median age of citizens, what type of industries the state depends on and which businesses continue to operate (whether essential or not), the extent of income disparity and poverty,  the general health of the population and if healthcare is readily available, how many people have been vaccinated against Covid-19, what rules are being imposed in neighboring states (I wouldn't want to live in close proximity to Texas right now), what supports citizens are getting from different levels of government, typical weather patterns and air quality, and very much on the group-think mentality of the citizens.

I agree that airbnb "...follow the science and change with the situation as the situation changes...", but they operate on an international level where every country, city and community has responded differently and many are still at high risk of infection numbers climbing. Airbnb cannot modify the rules for every jurisdiction given the wide range of situations across the globe, especially when politics plays such a big part! 

This pandemic has been extremely difficult for most people and businesses all around the globe. For those who lost family and loved ones it has been an unthinkable tragedy, especially when so many of those deaths could have been avoided. It has been a year now since the pandemic was declared by the WHO. We were advised back then that it would take a vaccine to finally control the virus and not to get our hopes up that one would be developed for at least a year and a half (most vaccines take more than 10 years to develop!). Unbelievably there are at least four vaccines now on the market - not all approved in all countries and some which will require tweaking - providing strong hope that the world can soon begin repairing the damage and get back to business. Rushing the process, against the advise of 'pertinent' experts is taking a big risk in delaying a permanent recovery. Try to hang in there - we've come this far, the end is in sight and we will get through this!  

[Melodie-And-John0]

Thanks for your reply @Karen912 , Actually. Ephraim is a Bio Chemist so its definitely in the realm of his studies even if its not his research.  I also cant help but note our Biologists are back to work with their students in their labs.   As far as chalk boards go, they are being replaced when renovated but our building is still 50/50, I agree, sooner would be better than later, that dust isnt great for people or electronics and scientific equipment (the stuff I repair).     

I compared two states that are similar in so many ways except their response to Corona but the stats across the nation nearly all indicate approaching a functional level of heard immunity far sooner than the CDC estimated even 3 months ago.  NY, the epicenter of the greatest death tolls has turned the corner and opening schools and businesses without our numbers going berserk, (Upstate and Bearpath Lodging never closed). 

Im not saying  we dont have anything to be concerned about with the virus a year after its entry onto our continent,  just saying were not anywhere near the same ignorant place we started when we needed "30 days to flatten the curve" yet the policies remain the same on the "30 days" 1 year anniversary.   I do understand the challenges of an international company like Airbnb trying to  make their rules a fit around the world, one policy for so many of its operations isnt actually possible and really never has been realistic, has it?    

The world is an unsafe place to live with or without covid 19 but its the only place we have to live, we need to begin the process of De-covidization for the sake of the living to honor the works and lives of the dead.  Our children and elderly that have been abandoned for a year cannot be asked to wait this one out.  There is no "out" to wait for,   Im sorry to say, covid is here to stay and it will never go away, we need to start life "After the curve" now before we do extensive pandemic response damage to our society that cant be undone with a shot in the arm and some extra classes.  I doubt that a year into this, any of what Im saying could be called "rushed", just a natural progression of actions as a measured response to a Bio natural disaster.   

Please understand, Im not trying to minimize your feelings and well expressed concerns, just saying that there is no better day than today to begin walking down the road to a better tomorrow with renewed purpose.  Stay well, JR

[Fred13]

    One thing about human beings, they will cause a series of events by their collective action and yet they will usually be the last to honestly intellectualize (and admit) the consequences of their pass actions. 

    In many ways the Covid -19 'world event' should teach the world many lessons, for starters is to be weary of the dangers of institutional thought and their inherent corruption over time and at the same time the value of individual thought (and leadership) is definitely another. 

   What they get out of it we will see with time, but at the moment they are still a little busy justifying their actions and for some handling their new-found political power over others that definitely bears watching in the future.

   The next few years should prove quite 'interesting'.

   P.S. The states of Florida and California reminds of the 1956 song - "Two Different Worlds" for logical reasons.

[John5097]

@Melodie-And-John0 

I got a chuckle out of the "Free Willy" state. There are a lot of interesting developments and changes. Now its some variant that crops up like a weed, such as the UK experienced or now Brazil N1. Italy and several other European nations are experiencing spikes. (See graph below) There likely appears to be some herd immunity going on where places that have already been through a wave or two tend to level off, while others that went into strict lockdown get hit with a more potent variant. NY is still kind of high compared to CA.  Each country, or state or city in the US has also taken different approaches. 

Our state is similar to Florida, but most people are wearing mask and social distancing. However we also made the national news because some people are crowding bars. I drive by them and wonder why anyone would want to crowd in a small place right now. All my guest have been avoiding bars and such. They just want to go to the beach or out side, walk, take an outdoor tour. 

In general guest feel safer booking a place on Airbnb. In my last message to all my guest I let them know all the bedding is washed and entire place disinfected. It doesn't take much time to go through and disinfected all the surfaces. I like it. Most of my guest have defiantly let me know they appreciate the extra cleaning. The best review says the place is sparkling clean. 

 At any rate both the UK and Brazil have taken over the US in covid cases. But it looks like this may be far from over. Even after the US and Europe and Australia etc, are vaccinated the virus will be mutating and spreading and possibly reintroducing. For our county simply wearing mask and some social distancing seems to have been a good balance. 

Last I read it could take years to get the entire world vaccinated. 

Here are some different graphs. I think its interesting.  I've been hosting this entire time, go into space guest just left, clean, and no one has had a single problem. Guest are more responsible by far than most. Simply wearing a mask, avoiding congregating indoors for most, seems to have been a good balance. Even when things are all opened up, "Free Willy" doesn't mean people will go there. 
 

[John5097]

@Melodie-And-John0 

This is me cleaning yesterday morning. I open all the windows and turn on the ceiling fan right when I go in. New fresh air for next guest. 



These are the graph for Charleston County where I"m at, and South Carolina. Our fist wave was last summer then second wave not so bad. It looks like places that avoided  first wave got hammered worse on second wave. Anyway, I didn't want anyone thinking I was being irresponsible. My new widows and ceiling fan have really been useful for several situations. I also let more time between guest to let AC cool it back down. 

Charleston County:



South Carlolina:
There are no restrictions at all except to wear mask. 

[Deidre1]

It is time to end "hygiene theatre" and instead rely on the scientifically-proven and common sense cleaning measures that actually mitigate droplet spread. Open the windows during your turnovers, launder the sheets and towels & air out the bedding in the sunlight. Overuse of materials like bleach, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial (which by the way does nothing against a virus) are not only not helpful in managing covid, they wreak havoc on our sewer and septic systems as well as house fixtures and furnishings. 

It is time to update cleaning protocols to reflect 2021 science.