A Thank You to Nurses and The Airbnb Community
Today, on International Nurses Day, I want to add my name to others expressing our thanks and gratitude to the millions of nurses around the world who are our modern day heroes for their selfless service in the middle of a pandemic. Nurses, along with the other first responders, medical and support personnel, and essential workers, have helped keep us all safer. And that is also true for the Hosts on Airbnb who have offered their homes and hospitality to nurses and other COVID-19 responders through the Frontline Stays program. Sometimes a shared danger like this pandemic brings out the best of us.
Thank you.
Along with a team of experts at Pandefense Advisory, it has been an honor to provide advice to Airbnb in their efforts to support these first responders and the community of millions of hosts and guests, spread across 220 countries and regions around the globe. COVID-19 has stimulated an unprecedented explosion of rapidly evolving knowledge about this novel coronavirus and best practices on prevention and sanitization. We have been pleased to help translate the science into action to support Airbnb.
Hosts on Airbnb who have signed on to Frontline Stays are making an important contribution to slowing this pandemic, despite so many scientific uncertainties. Healthcare workers are taking personal risks to get their job done and to keep medical infrastructure and services functioning under severe strain. Helping them self isolate, reduce their commutes, increase their rest and recharge, is not only a kindness, it’s a duty. This gesture helps make it possible for nurses and first responders to protect their families and reduce inadvertent community transmission.
Above all, thank you again to all the frontline workers—especially nurses—who are out there helping the most vulnerable and ill among us. The scientific, medical, pharmaceutical, and public policy communities are also working faster than ever to improve testing and to find and develop effective medications and a vaccine. In the meantime, we rely on everyone’s individual and collective contribution to help manage and mitigate the situation. Thank you to everyone who is doing their part, small or large.
Larry Brilliant, MD MPH
Epidemiologist
Dr. Larry Brilliant is a renowned epidemiologist, Chair of Ending Pandemics and Founder + CEO of Pandefense Advisory. Airbnb consulted with Pandefense for expert guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic to support its community and help develop the Frontline Stays Program.