Evergreen Reporter

There were 81 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending July 23, 2022, a 30.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, 2022, there were 1,207 deaths in the state. 18.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.9% were from cancer and 10.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4% 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 July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	240	204
Heart disease	227	227
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	81	62
Cerebrovascular diseases	64	59
Alzheimer's disease	56	68
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	48	61
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	44	41
Diabetes mellitus	37	41
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	10
Influenza and pneumonia	14	16

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	114	126