Empire State Today

There were less than 10 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state in the week ending July 15, making up less than 0.5% of total deaths by all causes in New York state, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 15, there were 1,858 deaths in the state. 22.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and 0.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6% 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	419	22.6
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	400	21.5
Cerebrovascular diseases	89	4.8
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	4.7
Diabetes mellitus	46	2.5
Influenza and pneumonia	42	2.3
Alzheimer's disease	39	2.1
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	1.2
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	13	0.7
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 0.5

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	160	8.6