TOKYO (REUTERS) - A majority of Japanese remain opposed to holding the Olympics this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic but the ratio lowered significantly from recent polls, a Yomiuri newspaper poll showed on Monday (Feb 8).

Some 28 per cent of respondents said they want the Olympics to be cancelled and the same ratio of people think they should be held without spectators, the poll showed.

The Yomiuri poll showed a combined 61 per cent wanting the Games to be postponed or cancelled altogether, around 20 per cent points lower than recent opinion polls.

Just 36 per cent of the public are in favour of holding the Tokyo Olympics this summer, of which 28 per cent are calling for no spectators while the remaining 8% back allowing spectators.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and rescheduled to take place this year starting on July 23.

Some 56 per cent expected the coronavirus pandemic to remain unchanged in the summer, while 37 per cent anticipated improvement and 3 per cent saw it getting worse. Some 70 per cent believed the vaccination would help resolve the situation, outweighing those who saw no containment.