Garden State Times

There were 22 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending October 23, a 46.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 1,512 deaths in the state. 20.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.6 percent were from cancer and 14.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Heart disease	316	313
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	296	304
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	113	118
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	102	111
Cerebrovascular diseases	58	69
Alzheimer's disease	48	29
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	55
Diabetes mellitus	41	37
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	23
Influenza and pneumonia	22	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	124	106