Minnesota State Wire

There were 97 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending September 25, a 32.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 927 deaths in the state. 15.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.1 percent were from cancer and 22.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	205	216
Heart disease	145	161
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	109	85
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	97	73
Alzheimer's disease	44	37
Cerebrovascular diseases	42	40
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	32
Diabetes mellitus	28	21
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	85	97