Prairie State Wire

There were 350 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois in the week ending Feb. 5, making up 19.2 percent of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 1,826 deaths in the state. 18.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7 percent were from cancer and 35.7 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)	350	19.2
Heart disease	337	18.5
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	302	16.5
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	287	15.7
Cerebrovascular diseases	83	4.5
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	4.4
Alzheimer's disease	68	3.7
Diabetes mellitus	48	2.6
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	1.4
Influenza and pneumonia	21	1.2