Empire State Today

There were 119 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in New York state in the week ending Dec. 10, 2022, making up 5.2% of total deaths by all causes in New York state, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 10, 2022, there were 2,267 deaths in the state. 23% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5% were from cancer and 8.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2% 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	521	23
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	396	17.5
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	121	5.3
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	119	5.2
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	82	3.6
Influenza and pneumonia	71	3.1
Cerebrovascular diseases	64	2.8
Diabetes mellitus	54	2.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	1.8
Alzheimer's disease	35	1.5

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	208	9.2