Olympics should be cancelled or rescheduled, says Japanese survey over COVID-19 concerns

A recent survey has revealed that about 80 per cent of people in Japan want the already postponed Tokyo Olympics cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 concerns. According to Japan Times, country's Kyodo news agency recently conducted a survey, which showed about 80 per cent people were in favour of cancelling or rescheduling the Tokyo Olympics. Earlier planned for 2020, the games are postponed until summer of 2021. 

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Kyodo news agency reportedly conducted a nation-wide telephonic survey this weekend, which showed 35.3 per cent people were in favour of cancelling the global sporting event. Another 44.8 per cent said the games should be postponed again. This comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in Japan, which recorded its highest single-day tally on January 8 as more than 7,800 people tested positive for COVID-19. 

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Earlier, a senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had expressed uncertainty about whether the Tokyo Games 2020 will go ahead given the current COVID-19 situation in the country. However, organisers and the IOC President, Thomas Bach, have insisted that the Olympics, which were postponed by a year, will go ahead and have also agreed that it's not possible to delay them a second time. The rescheduled games are set to take place between July 23 and August 8. Japan on Thursday declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighbouring areas, where cases have been on a rapid surge for the past several days. 

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Suga's approval rating down

According to the report, the survey also found that 68.3 per cent people are not happy with the measures adopted by the government to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. While 24.9 per cent approved the government's efforts to prevent the spread of the disease. Approval ratings for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's cabinet fell down by 9 per cent since the last survey in December, with 41.3 per cent people not satisfied with the workings of his government. 

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