Prairie State Wire

There were 67 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending July 9, a 11.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 9, there were 1,864 deaths in the state. 21.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.7% were from cancer and 6.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7% 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 July 9	Deaths in Week Ending July 2
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	405	386
Heart disease	395	408
Cerebrovascular diseases	120	115
Alzheimer's disease	87	84
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	72	89
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	67	60
Diabetes mellitus	50	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	50	47
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	41	45
Influenza and pneumonia	29	26

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 9	Deaths in Week Ending July 2
Alzheimer disease and dementia	181	209