Mohali residents will continue to get cooked meals at their doorsteps, but not without “screening”. The Mohali District Administration on Friday claimed that the foodstuff would be “safer” as the cooks and the delivery persons would be thoroughly examined.

A day after Delhi’s pizza delivery boy was tested positive for coronavirus and 72 families besides 17 of his colleagues were quarantined, Mohali Administration maintained that it would continue with the home delivery of the cooked food.

However, the Administration would take a call on “non-essential delivery” on Saturday, like Dominos, Pizza Hut, among others.

Alarmed over the Delhi’s incident, Ludhiana and Ferozepur District Administrations have decided to bring to a halt all the home delivery services of food establishments to curb the spread of coronavirus. “As of now, we are continuing with the home delivery of cooked meals in Mohali…There are other people who need cooked food like PGs (paying guests) who depend on tiffins, and not the Dominos kind,” Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan told The Pioneer. He pointed out that there are people who are giving milk, groceries, and other deliveries and “we've asked them all to be screened”. Dayalan maintained that the Administration would be screening and thoroughly examining all those involved in the business including those cooking the food, and those delivering it.

“Mohali Administration will be screening everyone who is cooking the meals besides those who are delivering it,” said Dayalan, adding, “we will take a call on non-essential delivery tomorrow”.

Only a day before, Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Pradeep Agarwal had revoked the permissions granted to the food establishments for home delivery. “The permissions regarding food preparation establishments given earlier only for home delivery, were on an experimental basis and for a limited duration of time, and now in an alarming situation arising due to coronavirus across the country and the risks attached to food contamination, it has been decided to stop all the operations of food establishments till further orders,” he had stated.