First State Times

There were 15 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Delaware during the week ending Dec. 25, a 53.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 145 deaths in the state. 18.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.9 percent were from cancer and 24.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7 percent 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 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Heart disease	27	36
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	26	33
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	20	35
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	11
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	14	13