Prairie State Wire

There were 31 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending April 30, a 6.1% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending April 30, there were 1,655 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 2.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9% 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 30	Deaths in Week Ending April 23
Heart disease	353	369
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	322	343
Cerebrovascular diseases	98	96
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	70
Alzheimer's disease	62	48
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	54	43
Diabetes mellitus	51	46
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	31	33
Influenza and pneumonia	24	18
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	14	22

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending April 30	Deaths in Week Ending April 23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	164	140