Dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s leadership in the COVID-19 crisis has increased while support for his Cabinet has declined, an Asahi Shimbun survey found.

Fifty-three percent of respondents in the nationwide telephone survey conducted on Feb. 19 and 20 said Kishida has failed to show leadership during the health crisis, a sharp increase from 41 percent in the January survey.

Among all 1,473 voters who responded in the latest survey, 34 percent said Kishida has exercised leadership in the battle against the novel coronavirus, down from 37 percent in January.

Thirty-three percent of male respondents said Kishida has shown leadership, while 56 percent said he has not.

Among female respondents, 34 percent gave positive marks to the prime minister for his COVID-19 measures, while 50 percent gave failing grades.

Forty-eight percent of supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Kishida has exerted leadership during the pandemic, compared with 43 percent who said he has not, according to the survey.

Overall, 45 percent approved the government’s response to the pandemic, while 44 percent expressed disapproval.

The approval rate for the Kishida Cabinet was 45 percent, while the disapproval rate reached 30 percent for the first time since he became prime minister in October. The disapproval rate was particularly high among female respondents in their 60s, at 42 percent.

In the January survey, the overall approval rating was 49 percent and the disapproval rating was 21 percent.

Twenty-six percent of respondents who do not support a particular political party approved the Kishida administration, down from 28 percent in January, while 36 percent voiced disapproval, up from 24 percent.

The survey asked respondents if they were worried that the latest surge in infections would halt basic public services because essential workers, such as those in firefighting, health care and nursing care, could be forced to miss work.

Eighty-one percent said they were “very much worried” or “worried to some extent,” compared with 17 percent who said they were “not very worried” or “not worried at all.”

Eighty-seven percent of female respondents and 76 percent of males were worried.

Among voters in their 60s and older, 88 percent were worried, the survey showed.

Regarding the government’s campaign to administer COVID-19 booster shots, 64 percent approved it “very much” or “to a certain extent,” down from 68 percent in the January survey.

Thirty-five percent said they “did not approve (the booster program) much” or “did not approve it at all,” up from 29 percent in January.

For the first time in an Asahi survey, opposition to the resumption of operations at nuclear power plants fell under 50 percent.

Forty-seven percent in the latest survey said the idle reactors should stay offline, while approval for resuming their operations continued to rise and reached a record high of 38 percent.

The 38 percent approval rate was seen in the 13 prefectures that host nuclear power plants as well as those that do not have such power stations.

In a survey conducted in February 2021, 32 percent approved plans to restart the reactors and 53 percent opposed the idea.

The Asahi Shimbun has asked the same question about reactor operations since all reactors in the country were suspended following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture.

Forty-two percent of all respondents supported the central government’s plan to release the accumulated water stored at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the ocean. The contaminated water will first be treated to remove most of the radioactive substances and diluted to levels that meet national safety standards.

Forty-five percent of respondents opposed the plan.

In a survey conducted in May 2021, 44 percent approved the plan and 43 percent opposed it.

Fifty-six percent of males approved the water discharge plan, compared with 37 percent who were against it.

The rates among female respondents were 29 percent in favor and 53 percent against the plan.

Thirty-two percent of unaffiliated voters approved the plan and 51 percent opposed it.

Sixty-four percent of voters who are in favor of restarting nuclear reactors approved the water-discharge plan, compared with 29 percent against it.

Half of those living in the 13 prefectures that host nuclear power plants opposed the water-dumping plan, while 36 percent approved it.

The Asahi Shimbun contacted fixed telephone and mobile phone numbers selected randomly by computer for the survey.

It received 599 replies from 1,114 households with at least one voter for a response rate of 54 percent. Among the 2,070 mobile phone users contacted, 874, or 42 percent, gave valid responses.