Prairie State Wire

There were 37 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois in the week ending June 25, making up 2.2% of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 25, there were 1,707 deaths in the state. 21.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.3% were from cancer and 5.9% 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)	398	23.3
Heart disease	365	21.4
Cerebrovascular diseases	108	6.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	90	5.3
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	63	3.7
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	48	2.8
Alzheimer's disease	48	2.8
Diabetes mellitus	46	2.7
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	37	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	23	1.3