Grand Canyon Times

There were 99 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending July 31, a 57.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,289 deaths in the state. 17.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 16.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	263	211
Heart disease	231	238
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	108	68
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	99	63
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	58
Cerebrovascular diseases	53	49
Diabetes mellitus	43	48
Alzheimer's disease	30	48
Influenza and pneumonia	20	14
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	93	99