Golden State Today

There were 685 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending March 12, a 12.4% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 3,770 deaths in the state. 21.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.2% were from cancer and 12.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.9% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	799	910
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	685	782
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	260	349
Alzheimer's disease	252	277
Cerebrovascular diseases	249	262
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	206	296
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	160	185
Diabetes mellitus	139	182
Influenza and pneumonia	60	83
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	55	89

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	411	471