Prairie State Wire

There were 82 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois in the week ending March 5, making up 4.9% of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 1,668 deaths in the state. 18.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20% were from cancer and 11.3% 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	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	334	20
Heart disease	313	18.8
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	107	6.4
Cerebrovascular diseases	100	6
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	82	4.9
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	82	4.9
Alzheimer's disease	73	4.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	46	2.8
Diabetes mellitus	37	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	19	1.1