Over half of Japanese people do not agree with the epidemic response of the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to a new survey.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said they disapproved of the current measures taken by the Japanese government to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, 39 percent voiced their support for the work of the government.

The poll was conducted by Japanese news outlet Mainichi Shimbun between April 18 and 19 and asked respondents for their opinions about a series of measures that include direct cash distribution, declaration of a nationwide state of emergency and orders to close businesses.

Abe last Thursday extended the state of emergency nationwide in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The next day, he announced that the government is giving every resident 100,000 yen (930 U.S. dollars) to offset the economic damage caused by containment measures.

The general approval rating for how the government has addressed the coronavirus dropped from the 49 percent registered on a similar poll a month ago. The decline is closely associated with the newly announced measures, according to the poll results.

Four-fifths of respondents said they understood the nationwide state of emergency. For the cash handouts, 50 percent said the measure was "reasonable," nearly 20 percent said it's "not enough," and almost 10 percent said it's "excessive."

Forty-four percent of respondents said that not all businesses should be shut down, instead closures should be decided based on the severity of the pandemic in a given region. Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent said the policy should be imposed nationwide.

The approval rating for the Abe Cabinet also dropped by two points from the previous poll to 41 percent, while the disapproval rating climbed four points to 42 percent. It was the first time that the disapproval rating for the cabinet surpassed the approval rating since March 2019.

COVID-19 cases in Japan surpassed 10,000 on Saturday as the prime minister stepped up control efforts, calling on citizens to have a sense of urgency over the pandemic.