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Kishida Cabinet's approval rating at 55.9%, down 4.1 points: Kyodo poll
The two-day telephone survey through Sunday found the disapproval rate was up 2.5 points to 25.2 percent and also showed that 89.7 percent plan to refrain from dining and traveling in the wake of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
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New leader: Fumio Kishida celebrates after winning the Liberal Democratic Party President election in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on Sept. 29, 2021. (AFP/The Yomiuri Shimbun/Masanori Genko)
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he approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stood at 55.9 percent, down 4.1 points from the previous survey in December, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, as Japan grapples with recent surges in COVID-19 infections driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The two-day telephone survey through Sunday found the disapproval rate was up 2.5 points to 25.2 percent and also showed that 89.7 percent plan to refrain from dining and traveling in the wake of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
With the rapidly rising infection count nationwide raising concerns over the strain on the medical system, the Japanese government has now placed 16 prefectures including Tokyo under a quasi-state of emergency.
The poll showed 50.2 percent feel the implementation of the quasi-state of emergency came too late, while 40.4 percent said the timing was appropriate.
According to the survey, 76.5 percent said they fear being infected with the Omicron variant.
The poll also showed that 47.9 percent want to take the third vaccine dose as soon as possible.
Kishida has said the government aims to give third shots to senior citizens at a faster pace and begin the booster program for others in March, earlier than previously planned.
