Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urges caution on the easing of restrictions.

We must make sure that we are ensuring protection of our older citizens as an absolute priority. I understand the economic pressures we’re all under and I understand people do want to go outside. But we need to do it in ways that we are sure are going to

Federal officials stressed the dangers to long-term-care residents and Indigenous communities if COVID-19 restrictions are lifted too quickly, after projections in Quebec painted a dire picture of the potential cost.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday he is “very worried” about residents of Montreal — the epicentre of the pandemic in Canada — where the province is preparing to loosen confinement measures despite a rash of fatal outbreaks at nursing homes. “We must make sure that we are ensuring protection of our older citizens as an absolute priority,” Trudeau told reporters.

“I understand the economic pressures we’re all under and I understand people do want to go outside. But we need to do it in ways that we are sure are going to keep people safe, because the last thing that people want is a few weeks from now (is) being told, ‘OK, we loosened the rules and now COVID’s spreading again and you’re all going to have go inside for the rest of the summer.’ ”

The comments came less than 24 hours after Quebec’s public health institute said deaths could soar to 150 a day in the greater Montreal area if physical distancing measures are lifted. New cases could mushroom to 10,000 by June amid a potential surge in hospitalizations.

Premier François Legault said this week that elementary schools, daycares and retail stores with outdoor entrances in Montreal can reopen May 25 — the second time he has pushed back the date, but ahead of other large cities.

Federal officials remain concerned about a rising death toll.

“I’m afraid of more people dying and more outbreaks,” said Dr. Howard Njoo, the country’s deputy chief public health officer.

Long-term-care residents account for more than 80 per cent of deaths caused by the virus across Canada, despite making up only one in five cases, chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Saturday.

Stricter measures “may have to be reinstated” if controls ease up too soon, she said, calling the impact on seniors “a national tragedy.”

“The virus has not disappeared from the face of the Earth,” Tam said.

Canada’s case count climbed past 67,000 on Saturday. Quebecers make up more than half of the total cases, with 36,986 — about half of which are in Montreal.

On top of sustained community transmission in pockets of the city, long-term care homes have come under such strain that 1,350 Canadian Forces soldiers will be deployed to 25 facilities by mid-May to help residents, the federal government says. Meanwhile, Trudeau said Canada will not pay the full price for medical masks that do not meet medical standards.

On Friday, the federal government suspended shipments of N95 respirators from a Montreal-based supplier after about eight million of the masks made in China failed to meet specifications.

“There are ongoing discussions with them about whether there are alternative uses for these masks, but we will not be paying for masks that do not hit the standards that we expect to give to our front-line workers,” he said.

Trudeau said the discovery speaks to the “rigorous verification system” administered by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

He declined to specify on Saturday the per-unit cost of the N95 masks, which federal officials have previously pegged at anywhere from $1.20 to $6 apiece.