I would love to hear other hosts thoughts on precautions taken during Covid. How are you operationalizing both your direct interaction with your sitters and any safety measures like cleaning you are implementing different during Covid.
My profession is emergency medicine and public health and I have a keen interest in how people are protecting themselves and their community
We aren’t owners, so we hope you don’t mind us chiming in. We’ve continued to house sit full time, even with COVID and have experienced different levels of precautions.
On one end of the spectrum, during an initial conversation for a house sit, were were asked to arrive up to 2 days after the owners left and then leave 2 days prior to them arriving back home. This was to be sure that the home had sufficient time to air out any Covid contamination. We’ve also seen a listing that required a negative Covid test, however this immediately excluded us from the sit, because it was US based and getting a Covid test without symptoms in the US isn’t the easiest task to complete.
On the opposite end, we’ve been greeted by an owner without a mask, the reasoning being that we were going to be living in their home and eating a meal with them. So while we kept our distance, in their eyes masks didn’t make sense.
In the middle of the spectrum, where most of our sits end up falling, the owners wear masks for the entirety of us being around and we always keep at least a 6-ft distance apart. Gone are the days of warm welcomes with a hug.
As sitters, we always wear our masks when arriving to a sit and are very cautious to wash our hands and keep our distance. In caring for a home, we do our own pre cautions of wiping surfaces down at the start of a sit and again at the end. Also, when we return from an outing we immediately wash our hands and then go back and sanitize anything we touched on our way to the sink. Plus, we don’t eat out, limit our trips to the grocery store, and don’t spend time in public areas unless necessary.
Our precautions benefit the homeowners, but we have to be honest, we do this for ourselves and would do the same if it was our own home. So, we very much appreciate it when owners address Covid, either in the listing or in conversation (we bring it up in our applications) because it’s good to know that it’s a concern of theirs as well.
Thanks for chiming in! Your caution is much appreciated. And unfortunately refreshing. It is fascinating seeing how individuals project their own comfort level and caution during these interesting times.
We had a sitter this week, and asked her not to wait for us at home at the end of the sit, given that we were travelling from abroad and didn’t want to expose her to any risk.
Before the sit, we did meet the sitter and showed her around, and all of us were wearing face masks.
We’ve taken ours and our home owner’s safety very seriously since returning to house sitting in July. We are probably the safest couple we know in many respects, as we have to stay well to keep the continuity of sits running for us and our owners!
Handovers and initial and final cleaning have been the biggest considerations for us and we did write a comprehenive guide about this that THS were using initially of all things to think about.
https://housesittingmagazine.com/house-sitting-during-coronavirus-pandemic/
In reality we have found the process over 6 post covid sits to be mostly about common sense and having found sits where the owners take this as seriously as we do ourselves.
Handovers and handbacks with cats have been totally video based and without meeting in person. Dog sits are a little harder as we think it’s important to spend at least time for a walk together with owners but we’ve managed by staying in the annex of the home, limiting contact and following social distancing and mask recommendations. I do always carry bacterial wipes now and wipe any shared space - light switches, handles etc.
As with everything to do with house sitting, we find that it’s good communication that creates mutual respect for each other’s views on all aspects of the sit… Covid is an addition to that now. It’s good to hear about this from the owner’s perspective - great topic!
One of our homeowners created a simple phone video of her feeding and exercise routine and sent it to us ahead of the sit … we thought that was an excellent idea.
It’s a good point and one we deliberated over. Should we still be house sitting? Especially as we always much prefer in person handovers… we personally really enjoy the connections we make with home owners and their pets… some have become long time friends. But, we also want house sitting to continue and so if that means some temporary compromises we are happy to consider all options.
Our own experiences with cats for instance is that they quickly become friends with their sitters and often, even before Covid owners have had a preference not to do a physical handover but to leave keys in a key safe. We’ve found this particularly with younger owners.
The lady that did a video did this as an addition to several video chats and emails, so I don’t think any of us felt it to be dehumanized, but I know what you mean. It could sound that way, but I think also so many creative ideas are coming from trying to keep house sitting alive, yet safe at the same time.
It is so much harder with dogs or a mix of pets, and we’ve not ever, even in times of Covid, had a handover without an in person meetup … it has just meant more in the way of safety measures and not socializing quite as much… particularly at the end of a sit. We’ve still been able to have the time with the pets prior to the owners leaving.
I think everyone will find their own comfort point and the solution that works best for their pets. We’ve just been very pleased to see that so far for us, the pets haven’t suffered from the extra precautions and everyone has stayed safe. It’s been encouraging.
Hi all. Bumping an older thread related to COVID as a reminder that the virus continues to evolve. I am fully vaccinated and boosted (Moderna) and have it. After more than 2 years of not having been sick at all.
Vacation plans, no more. Just canceled all. Had friend meeting me whose plans will also be affected.
And I’m quite sure I got it at an outdoor event a week ago. So please continue to be vigilant.
Katie,
I’m so sorry to hear this. I am still seeing others only outdoors, and may need to reconsider that, as well. Are you in the US or ? I know the rates are very high in general now. I hope you get well soon.
Thank you. I am in Seattle, which has a very high vaccination rate, and only recently a “moderate” Omicron transmission rate. Anecdotally, it seems that many vaccinated and boosted people are getting sick who had evaded it thus far. My booster shot was 6 months ago, FWIW.
Im in a job where i still test at work so do the same on arrival & leaving a sit and have had fairly quick hand overs.
We are also not a highly sociable couple, enjoy the outdoors & still avoiding pubs & busy places.
I must admit though as others have said, many vaccinated people are now catching it in the Uk.
Happened on our last sit too where the HO caught it & couldnt travel back. Luckily we were in a position to stay on for afew days.
I’m in the UK too and work in a setting where we also had to test twice weekly until recently. Most of my colleagues are fully vaccinated. Some have had COVID multiple times in spite of this. I haven’t had it despite the rest of my household having it and also being a close contact several times at work