Old Dominion News

There were 37 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending March 12, a 24.5% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 954 deaths in the state. 19.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8% were from cancer and 12.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.7% 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 March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	189	218
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	179	217
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	68	103
Cerebrovascular diseases	50	60
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	50	76
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	49
Alzheimer's disease	31	33
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	30	32
Diabetes mellitus	26	27
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	112	119