Golden State Today

There were 42 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in California in the week ending June 17, making up 0.8% of total deaths by all causes in California, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 17, there were 5,289 deaths in the state. 21.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3% were from cancer and 1.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1% 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	% of Total Deaths
Cerebrovascular diseases	326	6.2
Alzheimer's disease	275	5.2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	216	4.1
Diabetes mellitus	193	3.6
Influenza and pneumonia	85	1.6
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	82	1.6
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	61	1.2
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	42	0.8
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,124	21.3
Heart disease	1,144	21.6

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	479	9.1