The Sconi

There were 120 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending October 9, a 4 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 1,253 deaths in the state. 20.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6 percent were from cancer and 23.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Heart disease	256	225
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	221	226
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	176	169
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	120	125
Cerebrovascular diseases	52	52
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	47	50
Diabetes mellitus	43	24
Alzheimer's disease	35	44
Influenza and pneumonia	19	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	24

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	99	109