Active cases of COVID-19 declined sharply on Tuesday, numbers from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control are showing.
The count stood at 186, down 50 from the total provided the day before and about half the number recorded at the start of December.
However, one more death was reported in the region, raising the total since the pandemic broke out to 271.
Ten people were in hospital, with five in critical care, compared to 38 in hospital with eight in critical care as of December 1.
The numbers were released the same day the provincial government announced a new round of restrictions that will take effect at midnight Wednesday and last until at least January 18.
Bars, nightclubs, gyms, fitness centres and dance studios will have to close, and all seated events will be reduced to 50 per cent capacity. Indoor gatherings including weddings are being cancelled.
The B.C. government also plans to introduce enhanced rapid testing and booster shot programs to fight the highly contagious COVID-19 Omicron variant.
As of Tuesday, 756 cases involving the variant have been identified in B.C. with two of them in Northern Health.
Provincewide, a daily record 1,308 new cases were reported, with Vancouver Coastal accounting for 525, Fraser Health for 419, Vancouver Island for 202, Interior Health for 128 and Northern Health for 23.
Also on Tuesday, Exploration Place's pop-up museum at Pine Centre Mall will be shuttered effective Thursday at 8 p.m. and remain closed until at least January 4.
“We are not providing a defined, essential service at the Mall Pop Up location, so the level of risk doesn’t make sense," CEO Tracy Calogheros said in a statement.
"By closing down our in person programming and retail in the face of this Omicron threat, we are helping to protect our amazing health care workers, our community and our team.”
- with files from Canadian Press
