Sunshine Sentinel

There were 46 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending June 24, a 4.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 4,236 deaths in the state. 20.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4% were from cancer and 2.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8% 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 June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	863	928
Heart disease	862	926
Cerebrovascular diseases	314	336
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	191	223
Diabetes mellitus	133	148
Alzheimer's disease	124	115
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	69	71
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	59
Influenza and pneumonia	50	58
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	44

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	373	334