Evergreen Reporter

There were 12 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending March 26, 2022, a 40% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 26, 2022, there were 734 deaths in the state. 21.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 4.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 14.6% 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 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Heart disease	160	164
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	151	162
Alzheimer's disease	63	48
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	32	46
Cerebrovascular diseases	28	40
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	22	31
Diabetes mellitus	19	18
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	12	20
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	107	87