Peach Tree Times

There were 214 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Georgia during the week ending October 30, a 22.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 1,808 deaths in the state. 20.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6 percent were from cancer and 22.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Heart disease	367	377
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	318	354
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	214	275
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	195	252
Cerebrovascular diseases	89	79
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	85	92
Alzheimer's disease	79	84
Diabetes mellitus	45	55
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	40
Influenza and pneumonia	27	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	159	158