Prairie State Wire

There were 82 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Nov. 5, a 17.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 5, there were 2,211 deaths in the state. 20.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4% were from cancer and 6.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.8% 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 Nov. 5	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29
Heart disease	462	537
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	452	423
Cerebrovascular diseases	133	124
Alzheimer's disease	106	73
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	98	116
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	82	70
Diabetes mellitus	79	78
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	55	45
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	55
Influenza and pneumonia	27	36

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	239	213