Minnesota State Wire

There were 50 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending September 4, a 11.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 902 deaths in the state. 17 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.3 percent were from cancer and 12 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	201	185
Heart disease	153	155
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	58	53
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	50	45
Cerebrovascular diseases	45	49
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	44	32
Alzheimer's disease	38	36
Diabetes mellitus	25	31
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	84	80