TOKYO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dropped from surveys conducted a month earlier owing to concerns over the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, local media polls showed Monday.
According to a nationwide telephone survey conducted by public broadcaster NHK between Friday and Sunday of people aged 18 or older, the approval rate for Abe's Cabinet stood at 39 percent, four points less than the previous survey, while the disapproval rate dropped three points to 38 percent.
As regards the coronavirus pandemic, 89 percent of respondents said they are concerned that they or their family might become infected with the virus, which is 15 percent higher than the last survey, NHK's poll showed.
In addition, 50 percent said they viewed the government's response to the pandemic negatively, while 46 percent took a positive view, according to the survey.
As to the Japanese government declaring a state of emergency over the coronavirus for Tokyo and six other prefectures across Japan last Tuesday, 75 percent said the move came too late, while 17 percent said the emergency measure had come at the right time, NHK's poll showed.
In a separate survey conducted by Kyodo News by way of a four-day nationwide telephone survey through Monday, the public approval rating for Abe's Cabinet dropped 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey to 40.4 percent.
The disapproval rate, meanwhile, stood at 43 percent, the poll showed Monday.
As for the timing of the emergency declaration, 80.4 percent of those polled said they were dissatisfied with the timing, while 16.3 percent said it was appropriate.
The survey also showed that the majority of people were not in favor of the government's plan to distribute two cloth face masks to each of the some 50 million households in Japan, with many saying it is a waste of tax payers' money and doubtful that such cloth masks can effectively prevent the spread of the virus.
More than 60 percent of respondents said the government should provide each household with a uniform sum of money, rather than the government's plan to provide 300,000 yen (2,800 U.S. dollars) to some households suffering as a result of a loss of income due to the pandemic, Kyodo's survey showed.
