Empire State Today

There were 49 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending March 5, a 27.9% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 1,546 deaths in the state. 23.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19% were from cancer and 12.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.8% 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 March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Heart disease	369	423
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	293	331
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	112	164
Cerebrovascular diseases	77	70
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	76	128
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	68
Influenza and pneumonia	38	28
Diabetes mellitus	35	34
Alzheimer's disease	34	48
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	22

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	152	173