<Anchor>



Today (16th), the number of new COVID-19 cases is expected to be around 1,600. As the number of confirmed cases is decreasing recently, and the completion rate of vaccination is also rising rapidly, a gradual recovery of daily life may begin on the 1st of next month.



This news is delivered by Park Chan-geun, a reporter.



<Reporter> At



this high school in Guro-gu, Seoul, 17 people were infected after the first confirmed case on the 10th.



[Park Yu-mi/Seoul City Citizen Health Director: Students live on campus for a long time, and some students have taken classes after school together.] The



cumulative number of infections in apartments in Dongjak-gu, Seoul has increased to 54.



Although sporadic infections continue, the daily average number of confirmed cases in Korea, which exceeded 2,000, has decreased to 1,557 in three weeks.



To date, the completion rate of vaccination is 62.5% of the population, which is close to 70%, which is the transition condition for 'step-by-step recovery of daily life'.



The government predicted that the target would be achieved by next weekend at the earliest, or Monday the 25th at the latest.



Those who were vaccinated on the 25th will be recognized as completed inoculation on the 9th of the next month, but as this distance adjustment plan ends on the 30th of this month, it is possible to start a step-by-step recovery from the 1st of the next month.



[Lee Ki-il / Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters 1st Controller: From November, daily recovery will be possible.

We strongly hope that this will be the last adjustment period for social distancing.] The



quarantine authorities will make a final decision on the transition time over the next two weeks by looking at the quarantine status, such as the rate of completion of inoculation, the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths.



In addition, it has been repeatedly confirmed that wearing a mask during the process of daily recovery is a quarantine rule that will be maintained until the end.



He emphasized that even if the vaccination completion rate is 85%, it is difficult to remove the wearing of the indoor mask.