Garden State Times

There were 20 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending November 20, a 16.7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 1,464 deaths in the state. 22.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 9.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	335	353
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	298	292
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	75	88
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	68	76
Alzheimer's disease	51	59
Cerebrovascular diseases	49	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	56
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	24
Diabetes mellitus	27	35
Influenza and pneumonia	20	24

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	142	161