Prairie State Wire

There were 611 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois in the week ending Jan. 8, making up 23.9 percent of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 8, there were 2,559 deaths in the state. 16.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.5 percent were from cancer and 49.6 percent were from COVID-19.

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	Cause of Death	% of Total Deaths
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	659	25.8
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	611	23.9
Heart disease	421	16.5
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	370	14.5
Cerebrovascular diseases	112	4.4
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	103	4
Alzheimer's disease	76	3
Diabetes mellitus	74	2.9
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	2.4
Influenza and pneumonia	39	1.5