It’s understandable, says Mary Walker, administrator and director of care for this 60-bed long-term care home. In a post-SARS world, she says, the prospect of someone contributing to the problem of spreading infections had made people more vigilant than ever before.

"Visitors are scared of giving residents something they might have. I hear often on the phone now ‘tell mom I’m not coming.’ People don’t want to contribute to infection problems, especially when it comes to their loved ones," she says.

SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome – is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus. It was first reported in Asia in February last year and over the next few months the illness spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe before the global outbreak of 2003 was contained. Governments scrambled to adopt new infection control measures.

"Visitors are more aware than ever of infection control. They wash their hands when they enter and leave and we also have a supply of masks at the front door," says Walker.

She says if a family member lives far away and has a cold the facility doesn’t want to turn them away. "But we want them to have that mask on, at least," she says.

Walker personally fitted every staff member with a proper mask in the event of a serious outbreak, the so-called N95 masks that prevent airborne droplets from getting through.

In addition, the facility has taken other steps with infection control by keeping a log of staff members who work additional health-care-related jobs. "Then we know who to look for, and where, when there are other employers involved. We want to go that extra mile," says Walker.

At The Grove, Arnprior & District Nursing Home, Director of Care Patti McLean says they, too, have stringent, post-SARS protocols in place, and McLean herself sits on a SARS committee on the local hospital board. (The Grove is owned by the local hospital.)

"I think SARS has really heightened our awareness of infection control," says McLean. "We’re more diligent, including visitors and all staff members, and that’s a good thing."

She says staff, for instance, know not to bother coming in when they are ill. "And if they start to feel sick here, we want them to leave immediately," says McLean.

McLean says right now the 60-bed facility just came through a flu outbreak and staff just met to determine if they could have done anything differently.

"We’re always looking to find more effective ways to avoid infections."