The Sconi

There were 130 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending October 30, a 10.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 1,303 deaths in the state. 19.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.8 percent were from cancer and 22.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5 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	255	234
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	219	215
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	164	152
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	130	118
Cerebrovascular diseases	55	57
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	50	59
Alzheimer's disease	49	55
Diabetes mellitus	31	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	21
Influenza and pneumonia	10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	124	126