Sunshine Sentinel

There were 107 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending March 19, 2022, a 40.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 19, 2022, there were 2,922 deaths in the state. 22.1% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.7% were from cancer and 8.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Heart disease	646	633
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	604	564
Cerebrovascular diseases	181	214
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	151	134
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	145	215
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	107	179
Diabetes mellitus	96	87
Alzheimer's disease	90	85
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	54
Influenza and pneumonia	29	36

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	253	222