Constitution State News

There were 33 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Connecticut during the week ending August 28, a 50 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 543 deaths in the state. 22.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5 percent were from cancer and 13.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 15.1 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	121	93
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	95	131
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	39	24
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	33	22
Cerebrovascular diseases	25	23
Alzheimer's disease	22	17
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	22	21
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	10	22
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	82	60