Regis Tasmania at Norwood and Grenoch and Kanangra homes at Deloraine were in the throngs of an outbreak on Wednesday afternoon and had shut their doors to visitors.

READ MORE: Northern Tasmanians share what it's like catching COVID

A spokesperson for Regis said nine residents and seven employees of the centre currently had COVID.

They said the centre was following guidance from the federal Health Department and local Public Health authorities.

The centre was first locked down on January 4 after a nurse working at the centre tested positive.

At that time, 11 aged care homes in the state were locked down due to COVID ramifications.

Despite the lockdown to visitors, the centre was allowing applications for compassionate visits to residents.

By Wednesday, it was reported the number of aged care homes in Tasmania in lockdown had grown to 24.

Meanwhile, at Deloraine, centres chief executive Nadine Ozols said only one staff member was currently positive to COVID, and that, so far, residents had been spared from the virus.

She said, given the result of significant outbreaks in Victoria last year that left hundreds of residents dead, protocols had been instilled to stop cases from surging through entire group care settings and a single recorded case counted as an outbreak.

Ms Ozols said the situation was hard on families and residents, but they priority was to stop the virus from spreading.

She said the centre was waiting on testing resources to help manage the cases, and hoped the centre would be able to work its way out of lockdown as soon as possible.

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