Could not agree more, Jimmy.
Apartment blocks are not respite places to be used for self-isolation. The risks are just too high for such a highly infection disease as COVID-19.
And who takes responsibility if there is an infection? Will it be Airbnb or the apartment owner? No, it will be the public health system – the Government needs to announce a close down of short-term letting as a COVID-19 measure.
In my view , it is that Airbnb and its close relation, Uber, will be casualties of the COVID-19 recession. There is no demand for Airbnb style short term accommodation, now that Australia has closed its borders. International air travel will cease on 30 March and domestic air travel has been reduced to less than half. The examples you cite in your article are desperate attempts to fill empty rooms.
The word on the street is that short-term letting agents have switched their properties to long term leases. This is supported by the fact that if you look at the ‘for rent’ properties in short-term letting hot spots, you will see a sharp rise in properties for rent in a time of year when properties available for rent are dropping.
Watch this space.