RE: hosting - - post COVID-19

[Jean118]

So soon to really tell how experiences may go, hosting guests during and after this whole pandemic, but thought Id get the discussion going ( playing devils advocate)

How should we ( as hosts) be prepared IF a guest says they caught coronavirus as a result of their stay with us? 

This litigation question is already being posed by restaurant operators who are preparing to reopen so I am sure its a matter of time before we will too

(Just trying to think ahead)

[Pat271]

My first reaction is that this kind of accusation won’t hold up with hosts, with Airbnb, in court, or anywhere else.  It is impossible to tell where a person might have picked up a virus.  This goes equally for hosts that might claim after the fact that a guest brought COVID into their house.  It’s just not provable.

Have you read yet about any instances of this accusation?

I’ve wondered along the same lines how it can be proven that a host did/did not follow the COVID recommendations for cleaning.  We all should follow the recommendations out of an abundance of caution, but I don’t see how proof can be established.

[Kath9]

@Jean118 That is a very good question. Luckily for us here in Australia, we have nowhere near the same kind of litigious mindset as people seem to in America. People here tend to take more responsibility for their own actions. To my mind, if someone is travelling through their own choice, they would be responsible for whether they contracted the virus. But I get where you're coming from in terms of cleaning etc. They could claim the place hadn't been cleaned properly, etc. But it would be very difficult to impossible to prove they picked it up specifically from your place, wouldn't it?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

by the law, we are all innocent before proving guilty. 

By Airbnb, hosts are always guilty, so... yes, good question

[Susan17]

Answer: We can't prepare - or protect ourselves - from guests who will claim to have caught coronavirus at our homes.

Nor can we prepare - or protect ourselves - from the batallions of unscrupulous guests who will now take great pleasure in utilising Airbnb's globally publicised "Enhanced Cleaning Initiative" as a means of scamming us out of hefty refunds any time they encounter a (real or imaginary) speck of dust in our homes.

That's just how it's gonna Airbn-be. 

[Paul60]

My response would be - can you prove it?  Their answer would be - no.  End of conversation.