Empire State Today

There were 86 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in New York state during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 3.4% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,950 deaths in the state. 23.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 7.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7% 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	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Heart disease	457	476
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	401	404
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	86	89
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	75
Cerebrovascular diseases	61	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	60	51
Influenza and pneumonia	44	40
Diabetes mellitus	41	51
Alzheimer's disease	29	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	39

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	169	152