Sunshine Sentinel

There were 123 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Florida during the week ending May 28, 2022, a 25.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 28, 2022, there were 3,441 deaths in the state. 20.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.7% were from cancer and 6% were from COVID-19.

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 May 28, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	745	818
Heart disease	703	751
Cerebrovascular diseases	290	279
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	175	192
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	123	98
Alzheimer's disease	116	122
Diabetes mellitus	99	107
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	85	58
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	58	71
Influenza and pneumonia	35	54