Old Dominion News

There were less than 10 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia in the week ending July 22, making up less than 0.7% of total deaths by all causes in Virginia, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 22, there were 1,348 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.8% were from cancer and 0.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8% 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	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	296	22
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	294	21.8
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	5.3
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	54	4
Diabetes mellitus	50	3.7
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	42	3.1
Alzheimer's disease	28	2.1
Influenza and pneumonia	16	1.2
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	10	0.7
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 0.7

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	118	8.8