Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's controversial initiative to distribute cloth face masks across the nation as part of a government program to help contain the coronavirus' spread got under way Friday, with Japan Post Co. beginning deliveries in Tokyo.

With widespread shortages across the nation, Tokyo and other big cities that have seen higher numbers of confirmed virus infections have been prioritized in the delivery of two washable masks to each household.

Japan Post is expected to complete the delivery to 50 million households nationwide by the end of May.

The government will spend 46.6 billion yen ($432 million) on the mask delivery scheme, which has drawn derision on social media and has been dubbed "Abenomask," a pun on Abe's "Abenomics" economic policy.

On Friday, Japan Post delivered the masks from seven post offices in Tokyo's Setagaya and Minato wards where significant clusters have been identified.

"The masks may be helpful for some people but many others may not use them," said a 56-year-old man who was in front of a Setagaya post office when the delivery began.

"The measure may not be so cost-effective," the man added.

The program is a part of the government's emergency economic package, that is worth over 100 trillion yen, designed to support the economy through the coronavirus epidemic.

In a Kyodo News survey released Monday, 76.2 percent of respondents said they did not appreciate the government's decision to send the masks, compared with 21.6 percent saying they appreciate it.

Some experts point out that cloth masks have bigger gaps between fibers than surgical ones, allowing the virus more chance to pass through.

But the government has defended the program as "reasonable," saying distributing the masks will help reduce demand for disposable ones and ease public anxiety over the huge shortages.

The delivery began a day after Abe expanded the state of emergency to the entire nation as the government struggles to contain the spread of the pneumonia-causing virus.