Approval Rating Of Kishida Cabinet Rises Despite Omicron Outbreak

The approval rating of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has crept higher, according to the latest opinion poll conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun. The Cabinet's rating rose by 4pp to 66%, reaching its highest level under Fumio Kishida's leadership.

• The newspaper notes that the results of its poll represent a breach of a rule of thumb, which had suggested that the Cabinet's approval ratings were negatively correlated with daily Covid-19 cases (i.e. when the tally of infections went up, the rating went down).
• Yomiuri speculates that the Cabinet has managed to retain voters' support by factoring their opinion into the policy formulation process. In addition, the Kishida administration has been praised for swift measures in response to Covid-19 developments and has benefitted from a relatively low number of severe Omicron cases.