Golden State Today

There were 78 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in California in the week ending May 21, making up 2.8% of total deaths by all causes in California, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 21, there were 2,813 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.4% were from cancer and 4.6% 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	% of Total Deaths
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	601	21.4
Heart disease	600	21.3
Alzheimer's disease	198	7
Cerebrovascular diseases	177	6.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	131	4.7
Diabetes mellitus	101	3.6
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	78	2.8
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	51	1.8
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	48	1.7
Influenza and pneumonia	42	1.5