Sahara Restaurants Will Use Touchless Payments and Single-Use Items When They Reopen

As casinos await Gov. Steve Sisolak’s OK to reopen casinos in Nevada, expected to be announced later on Tuesday, the Sahara Las Vegas prepares with a new set of health and safety rules for its resort on the north end of the Strip. The company says it “collaborated with experts to establish hundreds of additional practices to minimize risk for guests and team members.”

Among the new guidelines at restaurants and bars, the resort says it will follow the requirements of the Southern Nevada Health District and the Food and Drug Administration. Restaurants at the resort, including Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, Uno Más Street Tacos + Spirits, and Bella Bistro, will eliminate reusable menus, and use single-use items and touchless payment systems. All restaurants and bars will have limited seating for appropriate social distancing between diners, and once customers leave, their chair and table will be disinfected and sanitized before the next diner arrives.

The resort also plans to use BioProtect, an anti-microbial protectant that claims to prevent contamination on surfaces for about 90 days to door handles, gaming chips, elevator buttons, and slot machine panels.

On the gaming floor, players at live table games will be asked to wear cloth facemasks and to step away from the game if they want to smoke. Table rails, chairs, dice, and chips wwill receive extra sanitation, and card players won’t be able to touch their cards. The resort added space between slot machines and players can ask an attendant to sanitize a slot machine before playing.

Sisolak may allow Nevada’s casinos to reopen on June 4, a long as the number of COVID-19 cases doesn’t spike over Memorial Day weekend. The governor plans to hold a news conference on Tuesday after he talks to health officials and the Nevada Gaming Control Board, who will determine whether casinos can reopen.

Sisolak closed all nonessential businesses including casinos on March 17. Right now, Nevada is in phase one of reopening, with dine-in restaurants, including some within casinos, permitted to reopen with restrictions. If coronavirus cases continue to decline and hospital capacity to treat new cases continues to remain available, he may move into the next phase of reopening the state for business.

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