Constitution State News

There were 36 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Connecticut during the week ending October 23, a 33.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 548 deaths in the state. 17 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.2 percent were from cancer and 13.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	100	116
Heart disease	93	93
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	20
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	27
Influenza and pneumonia	15	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	15	15
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	13	16
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	50	52