Golden State Today

There were 77 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in California during the week ending June 24, a 26.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 5,267 deaths in the state. 20.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and 2.4% 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 June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Cerebrovascular diseases	342	326
Alzheimer's disease	279	275
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	203	216
Diabetes mellitus	200	193
Influenza and pneumonia	86	85
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	77	61
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	76	82
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	51	42
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,135	1,124
Heart disease	1,083	1,144

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	503	479