In an official notice, District Magistrate of Ludhiana, Pradeep Agarwal, said: "The permissions regarding food preparation establishments given earlier only for home delivery, were on an experimental basis and for a limited duration of time. Now, keeping in view the alarming situation arising due to COVID-19 countrywide and the risks attached with food contamination, it has been decided to stop all operations of food establishments till further orders."
He stated that all permissions stood cancelled with immediate effect, and any establishment, if found providing home delivery, would be held responsible for violating the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Disaster Management Act, 2005.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Punjab has reported 186 coronavirus positive cases so far, out of which 27 people have been cured/discharged.
The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India has now climbed to 12,380, as per the latest report by MoHFW on Thursday.
( With inputs from ANI )