More than 80 percent of the public believes the government should compensate businesses that have complied with a request to suspend operations in response to a surge in coronavirus infections in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, according to a Kyodo News survey released Monday.
Conducted by telephone over the four days through Monday, 80.4 percent of respondents from across Japan said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's declaration of a state of emergency last week in Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures came too late.
In reflection of such criticism, the public approval rating for Abe's Cabinet fell 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey in late March to 40.4 percent. The disapproval rate came to 43 percent.