Prairie State Wire

There were 69 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Oct. 8, a 14.8% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 8, there were 2,111 deaths in the state. 22.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.1% were from cancer and 5.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10% 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. 8	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1
Heart disease	480	468
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	425	443
Cerebrovascular diseases	117	111
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	80
Alzheimer's disease	84	77
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	69	81
Diabetes mellitus	57	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	44	50
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	53
Influenza and pneumonia	33	33

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1
Alzheimer disease and dementia	212	206