It isn’t fair and it also isn’t smart. The hosts angry that Airbnb won’t let them keep the guests’ money after these forced cancellations are caught up in short-term thinking. The long view is that if Airbnb allowed millions of guests to be ripped off then they’d see an epidemic of account closures, chargebacks, and lawsuits that would probably kill the company. That may also create an opportunity for regulators to close the window, forcing all the professional hosts out of business.
Everyone needs to share some responsibility here, so using the term "theft" and saying hosts are "trying to profit off a pandemic" is absurd.
I would expect Airbnb to do the similar. It might be up to the government to help landlords out, since the government is forcing the stay-in-place orders.
It's hard for me to side with the carpetbagging rent seekers here who still want to keep their guests money even though they are not able to stay at the units. Either a service is provided and it gets charged for, or it is not.
Meanwhile, I have less sympathy about hosts angry at Airbnb's cancellation policy which offers guests refunds due to the pandemic. If their units are not occupied, then they shouldn't expect to be still making money. Meanwhile, if they were still able to receive their guests' money without said guests actually residing at their units due to the pandemic, it looks like theft on the host's part more than anything else -- they are profiting off a pandemic for free because of an overly strict policy that prevents their would-be guests from being refunded for social distancing and ensuring public safety. That just isn't fair.