TOKYO, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- A latest opinion poll has shown that more than 30 percent of respondents think the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games should be cancelled, NHK said on Tuesday.

The telephone survey, conducted by the Japanese state broadcaster last weekend, received answers from more than 1,200 people, who were asked whether they think the Olympic and Paralympic Games should be held in 2021.

Twenty-seven percent of them said the Games should be staged, 32 percent said they should be canceled, and 31 percent said they should be postponed further, NHK said.

In a poll conducted in October, 40 percent of respondents said the Games should be held, 23 percent said they should be canceled, and 25 percent said they should be postponed.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised that his government is determined to hold a "safe and secure" Olympic Games next year.

Japan is suffering a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, with 1,677 new confirmed cases reported on Monday. Tokyo, the hardest hit by the virus among Japan's 47 prefectures, confirmed 305 new cases on Monday.