Empire State Today

There were 15 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state in the week ending June 17, making up 0.8% of total deaths by all causes in New York state, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 17, there were 1,891 deaths in the state. 24.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.3% were from cancer and 2.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1% 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	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	457	24.2
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	421	22.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	88	4.7
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	3.5
Diabetes mellitus	46	2.4
Alzheimer's disease	44	2.3
Influenza and pneumonia	33	1.7
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	1.7
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	25	1.3
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	0.8

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	153	8.1