Public health officials are urging people take extra infection control steps around older Canadians most at risk of developing COVID-19 complications.
And news that a Vancouver man in his 80s died over the weekend of the virus is providing fresh evidence of the need for vigilance in long-term care facilities.
Health officials in several provinces say the well-being of nursing home residents is paramount.
Ontario's health minister announced ramped-up screening and testing procedures, while Nova Scotia outlined a two-week waiting period for any out-of-country traveller who wanted to visit a nursing home.
Laura Tamblyn Watts, policy director at the National Initiative for Care of the Elderly (NICE), welcomes the precautions but she's wary of restrictions that can be just as damaging to a population prone to social isolation.
Ontario's health ministry is introducing ``active surveillance,'' meaning staff, volunteers, visitors and residents who may come and go would be checked for symptoms and asked about travel history.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams says the province has also begun COVID-19 testing on samples from long-term care homes where there is any respiratory outbreak.
He stresses that the general advice about frequent hand washing and other protections isn't just about people protecting themselves, but protecting the most vulnerable residents.
In British Columbia, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says people should continue seeing their loved ones in nursing homes, but must take preventative measures.