December 16 According to Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao, it has been three months since Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took office. However, after mid-November, Japan’s new crown epidemic took a sharp turn, and Yoshihide Suga’s response plan was criticized.
As a result, its support rate fell to a new low.
Yoshihide Suga came to power and established the “Epidemic Prevention Cabinet”. The Secretary-General of the Cabinet was appointed by the former Minister of Health. He also used top epidemic experts as his staff.
Because Yoshihide Suga is a civilian prime minister, his approval rate when he came to power was the third highest ever, reaching 70%. However, its approval ratings have plummeted recently.
The third wave of the epidemic in Japan took a turn for the worse in mid-November. The Central Epidemic Response Team kept admonishing Yoshihide Suga, asking for consideration of adjusting or suspending the “Go To Travel” policy aimed at encouraging tourism consumption.
However, he has always used “no evidence to show that the epidemic was caused by tourism” and denied the suspension of domestic tourism activities as a countermeasure.
Japan’s public opinion survey showed that Yoshihide Suga’s approval rate dropped sharply, 14 percentage points lower than the previous month, leaving only 42%.
In addition, polls also show that 72% of people believe that in order to effectively fight the epidemic, the government must suspend the “go travel” policy.
On the 14th, Yoshihide Suga suddenly changed his policy and announced that he would suspend the “go travel” activities from November 28 to December 11. He said that the current rapid increase in the number of infected people across the country continues.
Judging from multiple detection indicators, the number of areas where the epidemic has spread is increasing. In order to make everyone welcome the New Year in peace, the government will take corresponding measures to the maximum extent.
However, Yoshito Niki, a professor of infectious diseases at Showa University, believes that the medical profession has already lit the red light, and Yoshihide Suga’s decision to suspend the policy is one month late. On the other hand, there are voices in the Liberal Democratic Party criticizing Yoshihide Suga’s suspension of the policy as untimely. The revitalization of local tourism is an important decision of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The suspension of local tourism facilities at the end of the year and the beginning of the year will seriously affect the local economy.
