Beaver State News

There were 41 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending March 5, a 40.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 450 deaths in the state. 14.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.7% were from cancer and 20% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 13.1% 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
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	75	131
Heart disease	66	94
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	49	86
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	41	69
Cerebrovascular diseases	33	46
Alzheimer's disease	32	31
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	24	21
Diabetes mellitus	16	12
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	59	63