The future of face to face hosting and self check in

Moi aussi! Yo también! Mise cuideachd!

The above is a good list as of now for state restrictions. Might be helpful for new and current hosts.

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Just offering some tips as we all tend to do on a forum. There’s no paranoia, just good scientific advice. I am healthcare professional and have a special certification in teaching infection control and was just offering what I could to the readers here. None of it is specific for you or personal to you. This forum is widely read.

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As another health care professional, I might mention that setting myself up for distance hosting was also partly because of my profession. I can tell you the days of me going anywhere wearing my scrubs after work are gone. People look askance at us scrub wearers and I am equally certain my guests would prefer not to meet me even at a distance if they knew my profession.

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I used to do it for the enjoyment of meeting my guests before COVID, and joblessness made it extremely important to pay my bills with the “business” we had built for pleasure purposes. It seems as though a lot of guests prefer the hands off host approach. This is something that I never realized until we stopped socializing with them. I do miss it though.

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Here in Mexico since COVID, nurses in scrubs in public have actually experienced far worse than being looked at askance- they have been physically attacked, screamed at, and in one case not far from where I live, a group of locals prevented a nurse from reentering the town she lives in after her shift at the hospital in a neighboring town.

Most of us can’t get them either. So you really just have to stay away from people if you want to be safe-ish.

That’s why we have 150k dead people in this nation. Since March. 50 9-11’s.

LOL. You’re kidding, right?

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Since we started receiving guests in July every guest has worn a mask at check in, even those from regions in Spain where it isn’t compulsory.

We also wear masks and whoever is doing the paperwork also wears gloves.

The equivalent here is FFP2, which unfortunately were rather expensive when I bought a batch, hopefully they’ll be cheaper next time round.

If a guest turned up with no mask, we would offer them one, and if they refused it then no entry to our premises; but to be honest, that’s unlikely to happen here.

The precautions we take personally, and the visible signs of what we are doing for our guests in respect of the current health situation were actually complimented in a recent review. I was perversely pleased about that. :no_mouth:

JF

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They are widely available at this point. I have been able to get them whenever I’ve looked. If you want a source, let me know.

I originally got them for the scenario of my husband having to go back to work. He’s a bartender at a restaurant and it’s really one of the most dangerous situations to work in. The rule here for indoor dining is that people can remove their masks as soon as they’re seated. Other than dentists, it’s the only job where employees are forced to be inside with maskless strangers. On top of it, it’s a 7-9 hour shift. A lot of studies have shown that the length of time that you’re exposed is relevant to whether or not you get Covid. I was really uncomfortable with him being put in that position and so wanted to make sure he was protected. Honestly, I am safer working in nursing homes where I can require my patients to wear a mask. It’s outrageous that anyone would be forced to work inside around dozens of strangers who are not wearing masks. I bought him some face shields too, lol. Alas, he’s not returning to that job right now so we use them when cleaning the Airbnb.

We don’t go anywhere except to walk the dog but some streets can get crowded and the not-gonna-wear-a-mask crowd seems to have gotten more agressive - they’ll come right at you on the sidewalk and think nothing of brushing up against you when they pass. So we wear the N-95s for walking the dog now too.

I wasn’t suggesting that everyone have these professional medical masks. I was only reminding people that their mask protects the other person and not themselves. A lot of people seem to think that their cloth face covering protects them around people who are not wearing masks. It seems a grave mistake :wink:

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Thanks for this guide - it is a great jumping off point for sure, I like looking up where guests are hailing from and what restrictions their locale has in place.

However, even though it says updated on 8/3 I noticed for my state that they missed two current Governor mandates:
-All bars are closed down for business
-Last call for alcohol for restaurants is 10 PM

Along with the visitor questionnaire, I send all the local restrictions to guests. If they don’t want to abide by all the “rules”, I don’t want them here and encourage them to cancel for a full refund.

I feel for him! I’m glad I’m officially retired from bartending!

OMG! That’s not true where I’m at, the anti-maskers are publicly shamed.

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I’m honestly truly surpised that it’s not like that here. I am disappointed :frowning_face: I’ve moved all of the country and it seems that there are plenty of jerks everywhere.

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ain’t that the truth…

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I made a bunch of cloth masks, both for myself and friends and to sell. I used a tightly woven, but light cotton fabric on the outside and the inner layer is a type of black-out fabric which isn’t rubbery, but a tightly woven double layer twilled fabric. When I pour water in them from the inside out, it does go through, but quite slowly, so I think it’s a pretty good choice for a cloth mask.
I know they protect others from your aerosols much more than they protect you from the exhalations of others, but it’s certainly better than not wearing one at all. With the rate that the water passed through, I hope they’d protect me pretty well from others if someone was simply breathing or walked by, as opposed to coughing or sneezing directly towards you.

May I ask where that is?

I haven’t been around any anti-maskers in my town and haven’t heard any local stories about anyone who is being ugly about it. But I basically stay home. I’ve been to two stores in the past 3 months.

After reading some of these comments, I feel we are really lucky. Yes, I miss sitting around in our living room talking to the guests. Most were not into this kind of socializing, with the San Diego beaches calling; but some were.

Now we have masks on and you cannot see smiles. Talking is difficult as well. But I must say, that my wife and I don’t go out except to the grocery store so when we have guests (we are booked 98%), the socializing comes to us. People have so grateful to have a comfortable and safe place to stay. We are doing our service to them and they are paying us back by being here.

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Maybe it should now be known as mask-to-mask hosting.

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Absolutely.

My point, when I mentioned the N95 masks, was not that everyone should have an N95. It was a comment on the assholes that live in my neighborhood who aren’t wearing masks who brazenly come right at me on the sidewalks. E.g. “People are such jerks, I have to wear a medical grade mask”.

I wholeheartedly did not intend to make anyone feel like the masks they use are lesser-than or need to be justified in any manner.

As I mentioned earlier, I originally bought them to protect my husband if he had to go back to work, which is a very rare situation to be in (except for all the idiots that are sitting inside restaurants to eat right now…like, geez, learn how to make friggin pasta and stay the f home).

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Let’s just say I live in a very progressive town at the base of the Rockies. People are wearing masks running, hiking, biking, even when there is more than enough social distancing. Some of my neighbors are even masked up when they do yard work. (A little much, IMO)

I shouldn’t have used the term “anti-maskers”. There is definitely not any sort of anti-mask movement going on here. Quite the opposite. People not wearing masks are generally the tourists. Locals are intolerant and not shy about telling them to put on a damn mask.

Since mid-March I only leave the house about twice a month to pick up prescriptions and groceries, so much of the information, photos, and outrageous stories I get are from NextDoor.com. I did order takeout Mexican food (and margs!!! :hugs: :champagne:) on my birthday. There was an unmasked twenty-something kid outside skirting in and out of the “socially distanced” line. He was quickly scolded by an employee and barked at by another customer in line. :mask:

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