Empire State Today

There were 15 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state in the week ending Aug. 5, 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 Aug. 5, there were 1,926 deaths in the state. 20.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.6% were from cancer and 1.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.1% 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
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	436	22.6
Heart disease	400	20.8
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	78	4
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	3.4
Diabetes mellitus	45	2.3
Alzheimer's disease	42	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	39	2
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	2
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	19	1
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	0.8

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	195	10.1