Peach Tree Times

There were 100 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Georgia during the week ending July 31, a 53.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,750 deaths in the state. 18.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.2 percent were from cancer and 12.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9 percent 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	371	366
Heart disease	322	319
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	113	76
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	100	65
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	89
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	86
Alzheimer's disease	73	69
Diabetes mellitus	52	43
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	46	39
Influenza and pneumonia	33	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	157	140