A variance order has been approved, allowing Lincoln County Restaurants to open with specific guidelines.
Lincoln County Health Officer Dr. G. Chirstopher Krell, working with the Wyoming Department of Health and Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer, approved the a variance specific to restaurants Monday, May 4, 2020.
Under the order, restaurants will limit table seatings to groups of six, preferably in the same household, and seating will be done with people six-feet apart. The six-foot distance will also apply to waiting areas. Floor markers will be used to designate the space in waiting areas.
The order calls for restaurant staff to wear face masks and wash hands between each serving.
In addition, restaurant staff will be screened before each shift and the restaurant will maintain a record of customer usage and staff schedules.
Additionally, cups, lids, napkins and straws will be handed directly to the customers and restaurant staff will avoid touching the items once placed at a table.
Approved disinfectants and sanitizers will need to be in every restaurant and each facility will be closed for cleaning and disinfecting in the morning, afternoon and evening.
The complete list is regulations is included with the Lincoln County Variance.
The following is a news release from Lincoln County Emergency Management
Lincoln County has been granted a variance to Statewide Public Health Order
#1, allowing restaurants to open indoor service with restrictions. This variance is effective
immediately.
The County Health Officer continues to review variance requests for other types of
business as well, and any further variances will be announced upon completion and approval.
Restaurants, Cafés, Coffeehouses, and other similar places of public accommodation offering
food or beverages for on-premises consumption, shall be authorized to operate under Statewide
Order #1 with the following restrictions:
1. Tables shall be limited to groups of 6, preferably of the same household.
2. Tables with guests must be at least 6 feet apart, from edge to edge.
3. In waiting areas, a 6 foot distance must be maintained between parties.
4. Maintain signage to remind individuals from separate parties to stand at least 6 feet
apart; waiting area has floor markers to indicate proper spacing.
5. Staff should wear face coverings at all times and perform hand hygiene between
interactions with each table.
6. Staff must be screened at the beginning of the shift for symptoms of the illness and staff
must be screened for exposure to a person with COVID-19 infection during the previous
14 days.
7. Staff with symptoms of illness, or known exposure to a person with COVID-19 infection
within the previous 14 days, shall not be allowed to work.
8. The facility must maintain a record of customer usage, by date and time, and a record of
staff working hours, by date and time for purposes of COVID-29 tracing, in the event that
contact tracing is necessary. If this record keeping is done manually, sanitizing
measures must be taken on the instruments used for record keeping in between use.
9. Cups, lids, napkins and straws must be handed directly to customers by staff.
10. Staff must avoid touching items that have been placed on the table. The table will be
cleared by a dedicated staff member once all guests have left.
11. Dedicated staff member sanitizes the area occupied by customers upon departure
including tables, menus, pens, salt and pepper shakers etc. Consider the use of
disposable items if necessary.
12. The restaurant may not operate if PPE, EPA-approved disinfectants and sanitizers, soap
and other necessary cleaning supplies are not available.
13. Hand sanitizer must be available immediately adjacent to bathrooms.
14. Restaurant must be closed for cleaning and disinfecting in the morning, afternoon, and
evening. All tables, chairs, door handles, floors, bathrooms, and any high-touch surfaces
must be cleaned and disinfected.
15. No self-serve food service or buffet options unless food is pre-packaged.
16. To-go boxes, pizza boxes, paper cups, and any other paper product that touches food
must be treated as food.
17. Staff must use gloves when handling ready-to-eat foods (including ice). Gloves are not
required when handling foods that have yet to be cooked.
18. Playgrounds in restaurants remain closed.
This variance does not apply to bars, taverns, brew pubs, breweries, microbreweries, distillery
pubs, wineries, tasting rooms, special licensees, clubs, and other places of public
accommodation offering alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, however, if any of
these establishments serve food for on premises consumption as part of their business, they
would be allowed to do so, but would be subject to those restrictions as outlined above.
• CONTINUED PRECAUTIONS ADVISED
As health orders are relaxed, it remains important that residents continue physical distancing,
frequent hand washing, limiting group size, and wearing face coverings in public spaces when
distancing is difficult to maintain. Variances can remain in place so long as health metrics for the
area remain within guidelines set by the state.
• COVID-19 Hotlines
Star Valley Health: 307-885-5008
South Lincoln Medical Center: 307-800-8719
Additional Resources
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Wyoming State COVID19 Information
Star Valley Health
South Lincoln Medical Center
Lincoln County
