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TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s approval ratings fell five percentage points to 58%, and many are unhappy with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a poll conducted over the weekend by the Nikkei daily.
The drop in viewership ratings follows criticism for his hesitancy to suspend a national travel campaign as new coronavirus infections rise, potentially threatening the chances that his term will be extended beyond next fall, when it ends. your current term.
Suga’s approval ratings were at 63 percent in the previous poll conducted in October.
Respondents who disapproved of government countermeasures against the coronavirus rose 13 percentage points to 48 percent, surpassing the 44 percent who thought the government was doing well, according to the same survey.
In the poll of 993 people, 61 percent agreed with the government’s decision to partially stop the “Go To” national travel campaign, while 25 percent said the government needed to do more.
READ: Japan will suspend domestic travel campaign in two cities, says minister
Although Japan has escaped the high incidence of the disease seen in Europe and the United States, infection rates are increasing as the cold season approaches, with the nation hitting record numbers of daily cases in recent weeks.
Daily new infections rose to an all-time high of 2,684 people on Saturday, according to public broadcaster NHK. The death toll has exceeded 2,100.
The government has been trying to keep the coronavirus under control while boosting Japan’s economy with a national travel campaign that subsidizes tourism.
With the increase in new cases, the government cut the tourism campaign last week by excluding the two cities of Osaka and Sapporo, but did not suspend the program in Tokyo, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases.
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