Grand Canyon Times

There were 32 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending June 19, a 28 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 1,345 deaths in the state. 18.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.2 percent were from cancer and 5.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 percent 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Heart disease	249	233
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	232	252
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	65	61
Cerebrovascular diseases	61	57
Diabetes mellitus	51	31
Alzheimer's disease	50	50
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	43	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	32	25
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	12
Influenza and pneumonia	13	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	122	108