WATERLOO REGION — Two more COVID-19 deaths were revealed Sunday, raising the local toll to 25 dead since March 31 as the disease ravages the elderly in seniors’ facilities.

The latest deaths are both at Forest Heights Revera in Kitchener, a long-term care home hit the hardest by the new coronavirus. The facility has seen nine dead and a further 137 infections among residents and staff.

The facility said Saturday it is following infection control practices, isolating infected residents, and enhancing cleaning. All residents are being monitored for symptoms, twice daily.

“We know this is a very stressful time for anyone who has a family member living at Forest Heights,” Dr. Rhonda Collins, Revera’s chief medical officer, said in offering sympathies.

This region has now reported 487 cases of COVID-19. The disease is unrelenting in targeting the old, the sick, and the people who care for them, but there are more hopeful signs for others who are practising physical distancing.

Some alarming numbers about the elderly and those who care for them:

• Deaths connected to four elderly care facilities account for 17 of 25 deaths attributed to the new coronavirus.

• Half of all COVID-19 cases connect to 16 nursing or retirement homes. More than 40 per cent of all cases connect to three facilities: Forest Heights Revera, Highview Residences, and Trinity Village. Half of all disease transmissions connect to senior care.

• Seniors aged 80 or older account for the largest cohort of infected residents, at 110 people.

• Healthcare workers account for one-third of all reported infections. This reflects higher testing among them, and their heightened vulnerability on the front lines.

• Women continue to be infected at twice the rate of men. Evidence elsewhere suggests the disease infects men and women equally, but reported infections are consistent with the predominance of women among health care workers and among the elderly.

More hopeful signs about the disease in the general community:

• Hospitalizations have declined to 22 infected patients, after peaking April 6 at 36. In part this is because some elderly patients in seniors’ facilities are not being transferred to hospitals.

• The curve is flattening on active COVID-19 cases as more people die and 159 people recover.

• Transmissions within the community or by close contact are stable or falling.

Experts warn that community impacts are not fully understood in part because testing is limited and targeted to vulnerable groups. There have been 4,061 tests conducted locally.

There are currently 13 seniors’ facilities with active outbreaks in the region.

Outbreaks have ended at three homes for the elderly care in Kitchener: the Sunnyside long-term care home, the Chartwell Westmount long-term care home, and the Chartwell Clair Hills retirement home.

Nobody died at these three facilities. No residents were infected. A total of six employees caught the disease among all facilities.

Two more retirement homes have declared outbreaks: the Winston Park home in Kitchener and the Marian Residence home in Cambridge. Each reports one infected employee.

St. Mary’s General Hospital has declared outbreaks on two floors after the disease was transmitted at least three times among patients and staff.

Grand Valley Institution, the federal prison for women in Kitchener, now has nine infected inmates and two infected guards.

jouthit@therecord.com

Twitter: @OuthitRecord

jouthit@therecord.com

Twitter: @OuthitRecord