Old North News

There were 36 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending June 26, a 16.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 26, there were 537 deaths in the state. 14.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.1 percent were from cancer and 14.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.4 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 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	92	90
Heart disease	78	71
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	34
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	31
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	21	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	20	14
Alzheimer's disease	19	12
Cerebrovascular diseases	18	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	45	36