Golden State Today

There were 28 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in California in the week ending July 8, making up 0.5% of total deaths by all causes in California, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 8, there were 5,142 deaths in the state. 20.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.4% were from cancer and 1.4% 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	307	6
Alzheimer's disease	289	5.6
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	210	4.1
Diabetes mellitus	208	4
Influenza and pneumonia	89	1.7
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	75	1.5
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	44	0.9
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	0.5
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,099	21.4
Heart disease	1,061	20.6

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	467	9.1