VICTORIA -- Three more people in British Columbia have died of COVID-19 as health officials announced 299 additional cases of the virus Tuesday.

The newly identified cases bring the provincial total to 15,800 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

Active cases have now surpassed 3,000 in B.C. for the first time, with the announcement Tuesday that 3,017 cases are active in the province.

There are 92 people now in hospital with the disease, including 22 in intensive care.

An additional 6,888 people are under public health monitoring due to exposure to known coronavirus cases.

On Tuesday, health officials announced one new COVID-19 outbreak at a health-care facility in Coquitlam. The outbreak at the Belvedere Care Centre is one of 27 care centres with ongoing outbreaks.

Authorities also recorded one new community outbreak at the Capella Dance Academy in Chilliwack. Smaller exposure events continue to be monitored around the province, the officials said.

"Our goal for the COVID-19 pandemic is to continue to minimize severe illness, death and social disruption in our communities," said deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson in a statement. "The more we learn about the virus, the better we are able to manage all three of these important objectives."

Gustafson warned that “much of the recent transmission is connected to social gatherings,” and singled out the Fraser health region specifically.

"Public health teams are asking everyone to avoid all social gatherings in your home right now,” Gustafson told Fraser region residents. "Even those that are within the restrictions of the provincial health officer order."

Most of B.C.’s COVID-19 cases have been found in the province’s Lower Mainland. Since the start of the pandemic, 9,234 cases have been identified in the Fraser Health region and 4,993 have been found in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Elsewhere in the province, the Island Health region has reported 270 COVID-19 cases, the Interior Health region has reported 788 cases and the Northern Health region has diagnosed 425.

Ninety people who live outside of Canada have tested positive for COVID-19 in B.C.