80% want Tokyo Olympics cancelled or delayed: Japanese survey

The survey found 35.3% want the Games to be cancelled and 44.8% favoured another delay.

The Olympic Rings in Tokyo

 

About 80% of people in Japan say this year's Tokyo Olympics should be cancelled or delayed as worries mount about a record surge in coronavirus cases across the country, a Kyodo News poll showed on Sunday.

The survey found 35.3% want the Games to be cancelled and 44.8% favoured another delay. The world's biggest multi-sports event, postponed last year due to the pandemic, is scheduled to be held from July 23-Aug. 8 in the Japanese capital.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for the greater Tokyo region on Thursday and could extend the measure to other areas as Japan struggles to contain a surge in infections.

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Suga has come under fire for his handling of the pandemic and his support rate has tumbled since he took office in September.

His cabinet's approval rate slid 9 points from a month earlier to 41.3% with the disapproval rate at 42.8%, the Kyodo survey showed.

About 79% said Suga's decision to call the state of emergency for Tokyo came too late and 68% were dissatisfied with the government's response to the pandemic, the survey found.