TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's approval rating rose for the first time since he took office in September as more Japanese said they supported his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an opinion poll by the Mainichi newspaper.

Suga's rating climbed 5 percentage points to 38 per cent compared with last month's survey of 33 per cent, the paper reported. His disapproval rating fell six points to 51 per cent, according to the poll of 1,042 people taken by phone on Saturday (Feb 13). The paper didn't include the survey's margin of error.

The monthly poll showed 23 per cent approved of the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, up from 15 per cent in January.

Meanwhile, 69 per cent said former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's resignation on Friday as chief of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Organising Committee was the right move. Mori made derogatory remarks about women earlier this month, including saying they talk too much in meetings.