Sunshine Sentinel

There were 2,639 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending August 28, a 7.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 7,287 deaths in the state. 13 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 12.3 percent were from cancer and 74.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.7 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	948	986
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	893	873
Cerebrovascular diseases	329	330
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	211	263
Diabetes mellitus	197	214
Alzheimer's disease	143	147
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	82	73
Influenza and pneumonia	47	64
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	2,639	2,450
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	2,789	2,595

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	414	394