Sunshine Sentinel

There were 64 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida in the week ending Nov. 12, making up 1.4% of total deaths by all causes in Florida, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, there were 4,423 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20% were from cancer and 3.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1% 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
Heart disease	974	22
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	883	20
Cerebrovascular diseases	304	6.9
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	243	5.5
Diabetes mellitus	133	3
Alzheimer's disease	126	2.8
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	96	2.2
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	64	1.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	1.4
Influenza and pneumonia	46	1

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	358	8.1