Airbnb is “monitoring” the Corona situation, but is that enough?
Obviously, the outbreak of Corona Virus is bad for the vacation rental industry. However, public heath and safety is more important than private business and Airbnb should know that.
When Airbnb encourage people to rent their homes out to strangers they need to acknowledge the risk of easily spreading the virus. However, all Airbnb is doing is closing listings in severely hit areas in China and Korea.
Airbnb has the option to suspend accounts in the areas where the corona virus is exploding so people from those areas do not book vacation rentals abroad. Airbnb also has the option to close accounts in buildings that do not allow vacation rentals. But Airbnb refuses to do so. Maybe because it is because it is bad for business, and maybe there are other reasons. However, Airbnb, which is a company that profits on people traveling and staying in private homes, has a moral responsibility to put safety first.
