TORONTO -- Residents of long-term care homes will no longer be able to leave their facilities to visit friends or family, Ontario health officials say.

The directive, which was issued late Tuesday morning, is meant to help curb the spread of COVID-19 by limiting contact with those outside the homes.

"Ontario is implementing critical and necessary measures to ensure that we are able to protect the health and well-being of Ontarians, in particular our seniors," Ontario’s Minister of Health Christine Elliott said in a statement.

"We have been working for several months now, with all our partners across the system, from public health to hospitals and long-term care operators, to put processes in place to contain this virus and be ready to respond to any scenario."

Residents will be allowed outside as long as they remain on the home’s property and maintain a safe distance from any visitors.

On Monday, the provincial government also enacted a new order that would allow the redeployment of staff to different facilities offering care from the same healthcare provider. It would also allow employers to change work assignments, schedules and defer or cancel vacations if necessary.

Extra part-time or temporary staff, as well as volunteers, can be brought in.

The province added that all new staff hired during the outbreak will be screened “to ensure they are qualified and present no risk to long-term care home residents.”

Ontario will also be increasing the number of beds available in order to alleviate wait times in hospitals and to help isolate those who present symptoms of COVID-19.

“In particular, patients in the hospital who no longer require hospital services will benefit from this increased long-term care bed capacity, and their placement into long-term care will also free up hospital beds to treat acute patients,” a news release issued Tuesday said.

The announcement comes as a resident at Sunnybrook Hospital’s veterans care centre was tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has restricted its visitor policy so that only loved ones of patients who are “critically ill or at imminent risk of dying as predetermined by the physician” can enter.