B.C. confirms another 299 cases of COVID-19 and 3 more deaths

B.C. health officials announced 299 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with three additional deaths.

There are now 3,017 active cases of the disease across the province, according to a written statement from Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Rka Gustafsonand Health Minister Adrian Dix. A total of 92 patients are in hospital with the novel coronavirus, including 22 in intensive care.

To date, B.C. has seen 15,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 272 deaths from the disease. One new outbreak has been confirmed at the Belvedere Care Centre long-term care home in Coquitlam, bringing the total number of active outbreaks to27 in long-term care and assisted-living andtwo in acute-care facilities.

"Today, much of the recent transmission is connected to social gatherings. That is why it is so important to keep our groups small," Gustafson and Dix said.

"This is particularly important in the Fraser Health region where public health teams are asking everyone to avoid all social gatherings in your home right now even those that are within the restrictions of the provincial health officer order."

Fraser Health continues to be the epicentre of B.C.'s second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Public health workers in the region are currently dealing with an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 at a dance academy. A total of 30 cases of the disease have now been linked toCapella Dance Academy in Chilliwack.

In light of rising numbers in the community, the Chilliwack Minor Hockey Association announced Tuesday that it was suspending all activity indefinitely.

Gustafson and Dix said the province's priorities continue to be minimizing severe illness and death while keeping social disruption low. They said everyone needs to stay up to date on the risks in their communities and adjust their behaviour if the risk increases.

"Keeping our communities well means keeping them safe. It is about ensuring we have capacity within our health-care system, protecting those who are most vulnerable and continuing what's important to our well-being in safe, responsible ways," they said.