Indian Airlines flight
Representative image

The Manipur government has urged the Centre to stop passenger flights to Imphal from June 18-28.

The government made the request in order to clear the backlog of COVID-19 tests and ease congestion at the stateโ€™s quarantine centres.

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Chief Secretary J Suresh Babu, in a letter to Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, ministry of civil aviation, on Monday said the state government wants to halt incoming passenger flights from June 18-28.

Babu urged the ministry to issue the necessary directives in this regard.

There has been a substantial delay in testing COVID-19 samples in Manipur, as a large number of people have returned from other states in the past few weeks, an official said.

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โ€œAround 15,000 samples are yet to be tested,โ€ he said.

Five planes landed at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport here on Monday, officials said.

Manipur has so far recorded a total of 492 COVID-19 cases, of which 344 are active.