@Mike-And-Jane0
The problem with this theory is that in the EC, epidemic disease falls under the category of cases that require special review, i.e. "our specialised team will review each case to confirm that you’re directly affected."
Yes, it actually says that, however...
That is NOT what Airbnb have been doing. They are issuing refunds to any guest, regardless of why they cancelled, where they are travelling from or to or whether their dates fit the timeline set. They are refunding guests who never applied for extenuating circumstances and guests that don't qualify for their own COVID-19 policy. Out of my four cancellations, only one qualified and that was only after the 30th March update (she was told prior to 30th March that she would also get a full refund). Everyone was refunded regardless, even if no contact had been made with the guest or host.
The reasons for this are probably at least three-fold.
1. Airbnb is using the refunds as a massive PR campaign.
2. Once Airbnb set this campaign in motion, the floodgates were open and who knows how many guests were up in arms if they did not qualify for the EC policy and full refund. This is where the PR starts to go wrong with guests, not just with hosts.
3. Their call centres are inundated. The easiest thing to do both to placate the guests and to reduce the number of cases to deal with is to just refund the guests regardless of whether they qualify or not.
Now, from a business perspective, perhaps that is the right thing to do, perhaps it is the only thing for them to do from a business perspective, but please don't tell me it is ethical. It's not. If you make policies, you need to stick to them, not bypass them and then stick the finger up to the host because you DON'T CARE about breaking your own policies.