Evergreen Reporter

There were 55 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, a 16.7% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, there were 1,173 deaths in the state. 20% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2% were from cancer and 7.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.3% 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 Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	237	263
Heart disease	235	232
Alzheimer's disease	61	59
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	55	66
Cerebrovascular diseases	54	58
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	54
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	37	43
Diabetes mellitus	28	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	132	130