Buckeye Reporter

There were 288 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Ohio during the week ending Feb. 5, a 45.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 1,170 deaths in the state. 15.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.2 percent were from cancer and 45.9 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2022-02-05	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	288	529
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	249	464
Heart disease	181	311
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	154	267
Cerebrovascular diseases	74	92
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	78
Alzheimer's disease	48	80
Diabetes mellitus	19	43
Influenza and pneumonia	18	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	29