The Sconi

There were 104 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending Feb. 5, a 50.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 812 deaths in the state. 18.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.1 percent were from cancer and 30.3 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2022-02-05	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29
Heart disease	152	225
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	142	260
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	131	164
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	104	209
Alzheimer's disease	46	48
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	45	37
Cerebrovascular diseases	34	43
Diabetes mellitus	16	22
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10