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Has any one seen the strange FB posting supposedly via CNN that:" Airbnb has stepped up with a plan to offer free or subsidized housing to people working on the disease’s front lines, namely health care professionals, emergency workers, and relief personnel"
I suspect it may be fake. It’s getting lots of odd negative hate feedback.
Let me know if it’s fake.
Ed
Not fake. It’s here on the Airbnb site: https://www.airbnb.ca/resources/hosting-homes/a/want-to-house-covid-19-responders-heres-how-164
Edit: “AirBnB hosts have stepped up…”
I wonder what the ‘negative hate feedback’ is? (And why?) Also, I’m not sure why it was thought to be fake?
Whenever there’s any sort of panic or disaster in the world Airbnb gets its emergency thing going so this wasn’t a surprise. The difference is here though that in other emergencies hosts offer their places at no charge (for example I have had people stranded by airport closures after a hurricane) but in this instance Airbnb says that hosts can charge full price if they wish. (Although they have no objection to us having discounted prices … or even free 
)
It’s a viable opportunity for hosts who have had regular guests cancel.
So how do they prove that they are in the medical field and need accommodation?
I also resent that it is sold as Airbnb stepping up… it is the hosts who are doing the stepping.
Yes, I found CEO on Twitter. Maybe only for Epicenters of Virus? Too risky for my small town. Got our 1st case today.
Seems like last gasp effort in area where providers don’t want to put their families at risk at end of day.
ed
So true.
In Vernon British Columbia we had a nurse put a plea out to people to stay home to help “flatten the curve” He works with the Covid patients at the local hospital and will not be going back to his home. He actually plans to sleep in his vehicle for the duration !?
This seems helpful. This is the kind of hosting I want to do at this time and if it makes my place easier to find then great.
Large Pop up hospitals are under construction in several large cities in the USA. All need staffing. Professional organizations are asking retired trained medical professionals and those of us who aren’t working bedside to come back to fight the good fight.
There are not enough trained professionals within commuting distance so to help the “emergency help” be available to care for the sick, they need area housing.
Also after working a 12-16 hour or longer shift, a long commute makes a difficult job/day worse.
Sure housing away from home prevents the medical professional from bringing germs home but there are other reasons the housing is needed.
Their exhausted faces and weary bodies will confirm what they’ve told you.
Also you can verify RN, Respiratory Therapist, Certified Nursing Assistant, and most other medical professional licensure/certification status at the state board website by entering their first & last names
Plus supportive services staff are/will be needed too like housekeeping, cooks, food service, laundry, supply stockers, transporters, …the list is long.
All will have a hospital issued ID badge
You may not can confirm before check-in but you can confirm fairly quickly after check-in.
Agree…after the mass cancellations, Airbnb is promoting a way to fill the gaps and perform social good.
As a host do not use AirBnB for this, cut out the middle man and save your guest 14%.
Just get your guest direct, send your local hospital an email and give them your contacts.
Hospital/NHS ID badges have become a problem is the UK, and staff are being asked not to wear them visibly when out nd about.
Since some restaurants, coffee shops and sandwich chains started offering NHS staff free food and drinks,(they just need to show ID…) there have been several incidents of staff being mugged near their place of work, and having their ID lanyards stolen.
god, there are some real scumbags around, aren’t there!
Indeed there are. In nearby Ramsgate, ambulances in the station yard have had their tyres slashed, Iceland have had two delivery trucks torched, and so it goes on.
It’s an old adage that we get the society we deserve, or our politicians do. We are seeing the results of such severe austerity coming to fruition, with, I suspect, people who have been marginalised losing all sense of self, with all that entails. And now the desperation gets worse, and becomes visibly angry.
And yet poor Airbnb still gets criticised for it. As far as I can see, they had two options. 1) Ignore the whole thing or b) set up a system that helps hosts and helps people in need of accommodation. They chose the latter and yes, other companies are reacting well to the current situation too but as we seem to live in a slag-off-Airbnb-whenever-possible world so people are negative about it.
Today I read an Instagram message from someone who listed her blessings and the good things about life. That was so refreshing after reading so much about how hard life is (seemingly for everyone) right now. I know that I’m the eternal optimist but I’d rather be in the count your blessings camp.
Would be a shame if one of thise lanyards was full of virus.
I’ve just spluttered beer over the kitchen table!
Hi - I had a look at the policy last night.
Basically anyone with a whole listing can register to offer their home through Airbnb to key workers. How airbnb will vet key workers I don’t know. You need to agree to cleaning standards before and after their stay. You can’t take part if you have a shared listing.
You can do this on a commercial rate but I know many hosts in the UK at least are doing it for free or for cost rather than looking to profit from our NHS workers who are doing so much for us.
Most don’t get paid well and are having to pay for temporary accommodation in addition to their permanent homes, so it seems mean spirited to charge commercial rates.
You may be really on target. Badges are required for access so touched multiple times a day and some access points require tapping the badge to a reader. In the 12 years I worked at a hospital routine badge cleaning was not mentioned. I cleaned it but not enough.
Yukkity yuk yuk yuk!!