Shinzo Abe, Japanese prime minister, sees lowest approval rating in 2 years amid COVID-19 pandemic

The public approval rating of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fell over the weekend to its lowest point in roughly two years.

The latest polling by Kyodo News shows Mr. Abe’s approval rating stands at 39.8% after widespread criticism of his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

With a population of 126.5 million, Japan has reported 16,787 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 899 deaths and 14,422 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Of the respondents, 52.2% said the government responded poorly to the coronavirus outbreak, 77.4% said that public testing for COVID-19 was insufficient, and 81.2% said the Japanese government reacted slowly to issue economic aid.

Mr. Abe moved to lift coronavirus restrictions last week after seeing a downtrend in new cases. 47.2% of respondents said the timing was too early, while 38.7% supported the timing.

It also marks the first time the president’s approval rating has dipped below 40% since May 2018 after allegations of favoritism regarding school building projects, according to Japanese news reports.