Golden State Today

There were 90 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, a 34.3% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, there were 5,491 deaths in the state. 20.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.7% were from cancer and 4.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6% 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 Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Cerebrovascular diseases	326	284
Alzheimer's disease	285	310
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	201	198
Diabetes mellitus	197	172
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	152	109
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	101	93
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	90	67
Influenza and pneumonia	73	73
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,137	1,159
Heart disease	1,120	1,115

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	527	539