Empire State Today

There were 26 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending March 12, a 36.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 1,631 deaths in the state. 23.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8% were from cancer and 9.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9% 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 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	380	393
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	307	311
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	89	129
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	81
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	70	88
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	53
Diabetes mellitus	48	40
Alzheimer's disease	31	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	29
Influenza and pneumonia	26	41

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	162	156