Airbnb announced Thursday it is starting a global initiative to house 100,000 healthcare professionals responding to the coronavirus outbreak.
As part of the initiative, Airbnb said it will “provide free or subsidized housing for healthcare professionals, relief workers, and first responders, typically closer to where they are working.”
Airbnb hosts can “opt in to provide homes that follow new cleanliness protocols based on recommendations from medical experts,” the company noted in a press release.
“Medical workers and first responders are providing lifesaving support during the coronavirus outbreak and we want to help,” Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia said. “We’ve heard from countless hosts around the world who want to provide a comforting home to heroic first responders. We are connecting our nonprofit partners, government agencies and others with our incredible host community to work together in these extraordinary times.”
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The company said its goal is to help house 100,000 people and it will wave “all fees for stays arranged through this initiative,” but added that there are additional sanitary requirements.
As of Thursday morning, more than 491,000 people around the world have tested positive for the coronavirus, which has led to more than 22,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 118,000 people who contracted the virus have since recovered.
