Buckeye Reporter

There were 233 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending August 28, a 28.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 2,629 deaths in the state. 19.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19 percent were from cancer and 18.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	510	476
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	500	512
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	244	203
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	233	181
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	133	123
Cerebrovascular diseases	123	124
Alzheimer's disease	107	90
Diabetes mellitus	66	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	43	35
Influenza and pneumonia	27	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	219	203