I was an active member of CS dot com for many years and loved hosting people but because of COVID I had to stop. I don’t use CS dot com anymore (paywall, business model and more bs), but I want to host again, and I want to do it on Couchers. However, the COVID situation worries me. My partner works in healthcare, and we have family members with high health risk that we don’t want to infect.
In my house rules I want to establish that every guest must take a rapid test (I can provide it), and that a person who is infected with COVID cannot stay in my house. I would feel horrible having to kick someone out of my house for having COVID, but I also don’t want to put my life, my partner’s, her patients and our family’s lives at risk. Can I get some opinions?
Do you know COVID in the US was the third leading cause of death for the last years (after hearth disease and cancer), so yeah, it’s worse than the majority of the other ones.
No, I don’t test my hosts, I’m not in my house and I don’t establish the rules, I just wear a mask and appreciate they host me for free.
I worry about one (COVID) because thanks to that disease, many of my family members, friends, neighbors, etc, have died of it, my partner works in health care with very high risk patients, and we just don’t want them or another member of our family to die. If you don’t know anyone that have died of COVID, I’m really happy for you.
I wanted to do this because I know how good it is to be in a place with a local, share experiences, make new friends. I’ve been hosting people for more than 10 years and I want to keep doing it, just safely for everyone.
Thanks for your reply, and no, I’m not going to live in a hermitage for centuries.
“This is the first time a91 has posted — let’s welcome them to our community!”
As far as the topic at hand. I think this would fall within the usual “house rules” concerns. Although I haven’t personally come across anyone doing rapid tests yet, lots of hosts have text in their profile about COVID-19 protocols/vaccinations etc. As long as you are clear in both your profile and your follow-up contact with any prospective guests, I don’t see any problem. I suspect guests would appreciate as much clarity as possible as far as the procedure you are imagining upon arrival.
My hunch is people who are unwilling to take a test or have a significantly different COVID ideology will self-select out of even contacting you in the first place if you have text about testing on your profile. (Which is kind of unfortunate on some level, because one of the main purposes of hospitality exchange, at least in my mind, is to share experiences with people from different cultures and who hold different beliefs.)
If you do go ahead with the plan, I’d be really curious to hear how it goes.
And just as an aside, although I’ve never personally lived in a hermitage, I have spent many days (not centuries, I admit) in a row in the wilderness without any human contact. In general, I highly recommend it as an opportunity for personal growth.
I’ve seen other members requesting Covid tests and also think that’s just up to you and your preferences and circumstances. The more as it sounds like you’ll put it in an empathetic way and not as an attack to anyone disagreeing.
The fact that there are many casualties lay just in the fact that is a VERY common disease, where half of population in some places is affected.
So it is worse just if you do not consider that fact.
since someone misunderstood: the disease appears worse than it really is because with so many people affected (since it is the first “run” across the whole population) these is naturally a bigger number of casualties, even if the disease itself has not a letality bigger than other similar ones [flu] . Look in particular at the ratio after more than 25% of population in an area has been affected.
I don’t get the intention of that statement. What are you referring to that is worse? It is worse to ask for a covid test if you don’t consider that covid is a very common disease?
Thanks for your answer. This makes me re-think of how to address this situation in a way that everyone feels comfortable.
Btw, I used to live in the countryside, far away from people, and worked as a goat herder, amazing experience that allowed me to appreciate nature better and know more about myself, however, I’m a city person, I can’t stay longer than 6 months without the “chaos” of the city hehe.
Thanks for your answer. It sounds like a good idea to take a look at different profiles and see how people are addressing this situation, maybe I can learn something from them.
