Empire State Today

There were 37 deaths from influenza and pneumonia reported in New York state in the week ending Sept. 17, making up 2.2% of total deaths by all causes in New York state, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 17, there were 1,697 deaths in the state. 24.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.2% were from cancer and 7.3% were from COVID-19.

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	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	417	24.6
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	359	21.2
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	78	4.6
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	66	3.9
Cerebrovascular diseases	64	3.8
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	2.7
Diabetes mellitus	45	2.7
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	37	2.2
Alzheimer's disease	34	2