Golden State Today

There were 238 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending July 23, 2022, a 11.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, 2022, there were 5,587 deaths in the state. 19.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.7% were from cancer and 10.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.5% 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 July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer's disease	343	281
Cerebrovascular diseases	338	304
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	335	307
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	238	213
Diabetes mellitus	199	194
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	163	188
Influenza and pneumonia	91	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	88	77
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,157	1,132
Heart disease	1,089	1,108

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	584	520