Sooner State News

There were 66 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending March 5, a 25% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 542 deaths in the state. 22.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7% were from cancer and 26.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.5% 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 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Heart disease	122	152
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	85	100
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	77	117
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	66	88
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	36
Cerebrovascular diseases	20	27
Diabetes mellitus	16	19
Alzheimer's disease	13	20
Influenza and pneumonia	11	0
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	30	47