Prairie State Wire

There were 23 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending April 2, a 34.3% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending April 2, there were 1,627 deaths in the state. 20.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5% were from cancer and 3.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5% 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	Deaths in Week Ending April 2	Deaths in Week Ending March 26
Heart disease	336	339
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	334	336
Cerebrovascular diseases	93	80
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	82	74
Alzheimer's disease	58	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	51
Diabetes mellitus	41	30
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	32	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	23	35
Influenza and pneumonia	18	33

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending April 2	Deaths in Week Ending March 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	155	148