Minnesota State Wire

There were 178 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending Jan. 29, a 1.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 1,048 deaths in the state. 15.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.3 percent were from cancer and 36.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 12.2 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	204	207
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	202	224
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	178	175
Heart disease	159	179
Alzheimer's disease	55	48
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	58
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	42
Diabetes mellitus	39	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	128	107