Prairie State Wire

There were 81 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Oct. 1, a 3.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 1, there were 2,194 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2% were from cancer and 6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4% 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 Oct. 1	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24
Heart disease	468	461
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	443	458
Cerebrovascular diseases	111	112
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	81	78
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	92
Alzheimer's disease	77	59
Diabetes mellitus	74	55
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	53	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	50	50
Influenza and pneumonia	33	33

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	206	173