@Columba0
Hi Columba. I'm also from Spain but living and hosting in Watertown, MA, US.
In my location near Boston, I host mostly international students, academics, and professionals, as well as out-of-state professionals (business people, travelling nurses, etc.). Because of the global footprint of my hosts, and because of having a child at home, I am following the COVID-19 situation very closely (like so many AirBnB hosts).
I agree with your position and think that AirBnB could do more to participate in averting geographic spread of disease. As the number of cases sprouts quickly around the world, and global and national health authorities have ramped up in preparedness (many corporations, organizations, and schools have mobilized their contingencies for health epidemics and are preparing their stakeholders), AirBnB seems stuck in the extenuating circumstance policy and how to apply it to coronavirus-related cancellations (in a very conservative and limited way, judging from comments in this community).
The most clear risk of transmission of COVID-19 so far is travel history. AirBnB, based solely on an IT platform, could do a lot to help document travel history of AirBnB travelers, say in the previous 4 weeks of any given booking.
I have asked AirBnB to state what it is doing in that regard.
I am afraid, though, that AirBnB does not have much incentive to do anything. Like any other "digital matching business", it operates in a regulatory grey area, and has very little accountability.
We, users (Guests and Hosts), will have to step up big time, get informed, and make risk assessments. As Hosts, we will have to do that in the face of very limited information about the Guests' travel history.
😞