Hyderabad, Jun 14 (IANS): In the steepest single-day jump, Telangana reported 253 Covid-19 positive cases on Saturday.

The biggest surge has pushed the state's tally to 4,737. More than 600 cases were reported in the last three days. It was only on June 10 that the state had crossed the 4,000 mark.

Exactly a week ago, Telangana had recorded its highest daily jump with 206 cases.

The surge in the number of fatalities also continued with eight more patients succumbing to the dreaded virus during the last 24 hours, ending 5 p.m. on Saturday. With this the death toll mounted to 182.

Health officials said 179 of the new cases were reported from Greater Hyderabad, which remained the biggest hotspot in the state.

The virus spread continued across the state as cases were reported from 19 districts. Sangareddy district accounted for 24 cases, including 19 from a single family. Relatives of a 55-year-old woman, who died three days ago, have tested positive. It was a day after the woman's death that the test report showed that she was infected by the virus.

Medchal and Rangareddy, two districts adjoining Hyderabad, have together reported 25 cases.

According to the director of the public health and family welfare department, the number of patients recovered rose to 2,352. Currently, 2,203 people are undergoing treatment in different hospitals.

The surge in Covid-19 cases sparked rumours of the state government planning to re-impose total lockdown. However, the government has clarified that there is no proposal to impose the lockdown again.

Though the government admitted that relaxations in lockdown and increased mobility of people have led to the surge in Covid-19 cases, it has ruled out re-imposing total lockdown.

Meanwhile, Animal Husbandry Minister T. Srinivas Yadav denied telling a Telugu news channel in an interview that the lockdown will be re-imposed. The minister said he merely stated that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao would decide on further steps to be taken to contain the spread of Covid-19.