Sunshine Sentinel

There were 85 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida in the week ending Dec. 17, making up 2.2% of total deaths by all causes in Florida, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 17, there were 3,925 deaths in the state. 21.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4% were from cancer and 5.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2% 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	843	21.5
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	802	20.4
Cerebrovascular diseases	310	7.9
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	214	5.5
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	125	3.2
Diabetes mellitus	111	2.8
Alzheimer's disease	98	2.5
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	85	2.2
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	72	1.8
Influenza and pneumonia	61	1.6

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	323	8.2