Garden State Times

There were 155 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending Dec. 25, a 6.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 1,419 deaths in the state. 22.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6 percent were from cancer and 22.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Heart disease	317	358
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	292	277
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	168	166
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	155	146
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	90
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	60
Alzheimer's disease	37	50
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	33
Diabetes mellitus	28	39
Influenza and pneumonia	16	25

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	109	150