Virus puts Japan PM's ratings on the slide

Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet plunged nearly 13 points due to dissatisfaction with the government's response to a resurgence of coronavirus infections, a weekend Kyodo News survey found.

The approval rate for Suga's cabinet dropped to 50.3 percent from 63.0 percent a month earlier, the poll said, while the disapproval rate rose to 32.8 percent from 19.2 percent.

It was the first time the support rate for a cabinet dropped more than 10 points in Japan since June 2017.

About 48.1 percent of respondents wanted the government to suspend its "Go To Travel" subsidy campaign over fears the tourism program was increasing the spread of the virus.

The findings were echoed by a separate Yomiuri Shimbun survey which showed 57 percent wanted the campaign halted.

However, Suga was among one of the die-hard defenders of the economy-boosting plan. He last month told parliament the government will continue the nationwide campaign but will exclude some most impacted places including Sapporo and Osaka.

"It is a fact that 'Go To Travel' is providing support to local economies," Suga said, adding that "there is no evidence that shows the campaign is a major cause of the spread of the virus."

As a result, people responded negatively to the decision with 76.2 percent saying preventing infections should be prioritized rather than stimulating the economy and only 11.6 percent believed the government is managing the program appropriately.

Holiday wariness

As Japan nears its New Year holidays, 83.6 percent said they are not planning any trips.

As for the government's overall response to the pandemic, 55.5 percent of respondents viewed it as inadequate and more than 60 percent called for the government to reconsider its plan to host the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next summer.

Among them, 32.2 percent demanded the events be put off again and 29.0 percent said they should be canceled.

Despite Japan avoiding the large number of COVID-19 cases and deaths seen in other countries across the world, it is now experiencing a third wave with more than 2,000 new cases reported almost every day in the past two weeks.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds secured by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has exceeded 70 percent and Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura on Monday said that he had asked the central government to send nurses from the Self-Defense Forces to the prefecture due to a shortage of healthcare workers.