When the Olympics were eventually held in July to August 2021, public sentiment rose as Japanese athletes secured a record haul of Olympic medals.[23] However, this did not translate into an upturn in Suga's personal ratings as the event coincided with a state of emergency while COVID-19 cases in Japan continued to surge from the Delta variant.[24] By the time the Tokyo Olympics ended, the country experienced more than a million cases.[25][26] In a Asahi Shimbun poll taken at the end of the Olympics, the Cabinet's approval ratings fell to an all time low of 28%, even though 56% of the public agreed that hosting the Olympics was the right decision[27] signifying concern over the government's inability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] As a result, the government's pandemic response is likely to be one of the election issues.[29]