Carson City Health and Human Services releases guidelines for restaurants

Employees 

• Verify employees are healthy when arriving at work. Sick employees are advised to stay home and not return to work until they are free of fever for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication.
• Employees who appear to be ill upon arrival to work, or become sick during the day, should be sent home immediately.

Food and Beverage Establishment Guidance 

• Nevada Governor, Steve Sisolak, has ordered the statewide shutdown of all casinos and other nonessential businesses in Nevada starting noon Wednesday March 18, 2020.
• The state’s latest coronavirus containment effort will apply to all bars, gyms, beauty salons, barber shops, malls and restaurants that do not provide takeout and delivery services. The Governor directed all restaurants and bars to close their dine-in facilities to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
• Restaurants throughout Nevada, in addition to pubs, wineries, bars, and breweries that include meals provided by a full kitchen should be reduced to serving food only in a drive-thru, take-out or delivery capacity. No dine-in at food establishments should be allowed until further notice. This also includes food courts, coffee shops, catered events, clubs, bowling alleys, and other similar venues in which people congregate for the consumption of food.
• Pubs, wineries, bars, and breweries that do not include meals provided by a full kitchen should close.
• Grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations should limit the number of patrons allowed in their facilities and allow patrons to queue outside where open air is present and 6 feet of social distancing can be maintained.
• When patrons queue (wait) outside, placing markings on the ground where they can line up will be beneficial. Also, encourage online shopping or employ tactics to reduce person to person interaction is encouraged. Taking phone numbers and texting customers when they may enter may be useful also.
• Businesses that offer carry-out, delivery, and drive through food and beverage service may continue to do so but eating and drinking inside restaurants and bars is temporarily prohibited.
• Businesses that offer carry-out must enforce limited entry into their facilities and should have patrons queue (wait) outside. Allow space for patrons to employ social distancing of 6 feet by allowing service one by one. Having patrons wait in their cars is safest practice to limit exposure.
• When possible, a more progressive strategy to prevent possible exposure would be to deliver food to the patrons waiting outside.
• Charitable food distribution sites, including the meals being distributed to our students in wake of the school closings, along with grocery stores, should remain fully open and operational.

• Food services for healthcare facilities and other essential facilities should remain open.
• Any buffet or food stations used in charitable food distribution settings should transition to boxed meals or served through gloved staff members or volunteers.

For the food establishments allowed to remain open, you should: 

• Immediately increase sanitizing and cleaning frequency of high contact areas -- such as restrooms, door handles, front counters, etc.
• Enforce stringent hygiene practices for your staff, including frequent and thorough hand washing for at least 20 seconds at a time.

Customers Who Show Signs of Illness 

• Exclude ill employees and encourage ill members of the public to stay home.
• Provide customers with additional napkins or tissues to use when they cough or sneeze.
• Ensure that bathrooms are fully stocked with soap, towels/hand dryers and no-touch trash receptacles and provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol for customers to use in common areas.
• Instruct wait staff and counter staff to keep a 6-foot distance between themselves and patrons who appear ill as much as possible.

Handwashing Instructions for All Employees 

• Wash hands and arms with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before: eating or drinking, preparing food, or putting on gloves and taking off gloves.
• Wash hands in similar fashion after:
  • Handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood;
    Using the restroom, touching your hair, face, body, clothes, or apron;
  • o Sneezing, coughing, or using a tissue;
    o Smoking, eating, drinking, or chewing gum;
    o Using chemicals that might affect the safety of food;
    o Emptying or taking out the garbage;
    o Cleaning tables or washing dirty dishes;
    o Handling money and making change; and
    o Engaging in other activities that contaminate the hands.

Follow Basic Food Safety Practices 

• Keep hot food hot (135 °F or above) and cold food cold (41 °F or below).
• Thoroughly cook foods as required.
• Clean and sanitize utensils and equipment at the required frequency.
• Adhere to employee health and hygiene practices—don’t work when ill and wash hands frequently and when required as noted above.

• Ensure all food and food ingredients are from an approved food source.

General Cleaning 

• Clean and disinfect all “high-touch” surfaces such as serving counters, tabletops, refrigeration, doors, cash register counters, bathroom fixtures, toilets, trash cans, and phones frequently.
• Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered product that cleans (removes germs and disinfects). Always follow the instructions on the labels of cleaning products and disinfectants.

Effective Disinfectant 

• To make a disinfecting solution, mix 1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 quart (4 cups) of water. For a larger supply, add 1⁄4 cup of bleach to 1 gallon (16 cups) of water. Use the solution within 20 minutes.
• Other EPA-approved disinfectants may be used if they are effective against Coronaviruses.
• Consumer may contact the “1-800” number on product label for its effectiveness against “COVID-19”.

Proper Handling of Disinfectants

•  • Use chemicals in a well-ventilated area.
  • Avoid mixing incompatible chemicals (read label).
  • Prevent chemical contact with food during cleaning.
  • Manage waste safely and dispose in a secure trash container.