Spain's daily coronavirus death toll and the number of confirmed cases increased by the most in four days on Wednesday in Europe's most-extensive outbreak of the disease.
There were 6,180 new infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 146,690, according to Health Ministry data. The death toll rose by 757 to 14,555, the biggest gain since April 4.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will ask parliament Thursday for approval to extend a state of emergency through April 25 as officials struggle to bring Europe's second worst outbreak under control.
The main opposition party has said it will back the request, though its leader is among critics who have lambasted the government's management of the crisis, arguing that it was slow to react and restrictions on public life were too loose.
Opposition leaders have also highlighted the overburdened health system, which has been hampered by shortages of intensive-care beds and basic medical gear. Under the state of emergency, the central government took control of the system, which is normally operated by Spain's 17 regional administrations. It argues that it followed directives from its scientific experts and the World Health Organization.
The government is also facing questions about its economic response, which is centered around an aid package for self-employed workers and companies worth as much as a 100 billion euros ($109 billion). With most of the economy at a standstill, jobless claims rose the most on record in March and Economy Minister Nadia Calvino has said that April will be bad too.
Sanchez said at the weekend that there has been a team working for weeks on options to roll back the lockdown at the right time. He also said that while the state of emergency is likely to continue beyond April 26, stay-at-home rules will change, without offering further details.
