Hyderabad, May 29 (IANS): Covid-19 cases continued to soar in Telangana as the dreaded virus claimed four more lives and infected 117 more people on Thursday.

There was no let up either in the number of deaths or new cases. The fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 67.

According to the director of public health and family welfare, 49 more deportees from Saudi Arabia were among the people tested positive.

As many as 66 locals and two migrants also tested positive. The overall tally of Covid-19 cases in the state mounted to 2,256.

The authorities on Wednesday had announced that 94 deportees from Saudi Arabia had tested positive. Thursday's numbers pushed the figure to 143, making them the third biggest category after local cases and migrants.

The Centre has airlifted 458 deportees from Saudi Arabia. These deportees have been quarantined in government centres in the state, the Health Department said.

As many as 175 migrants have also tested positive for Covid-19. They all had returned to Telangana from various states following easing of lockdown norms.

Thirty foreign evacuees have also been tested positive so far. There were no cases in this category for the last two days.

The state continued to maintain a good recovery rate of 60 per cent. As many as 1,345 patients have recovered.

The mortality rate stands at 3 per cent.