Garden State Times

There were 36 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending May 21, 2022, a 9.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 21, 2022, there were 1,058 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.6% were from cancer and 7.9% 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	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 14, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	228	199
Heart disease	222	290
Cerebrovascular diseases	50	42
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	48	38
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	39	30
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	33
Alzheimer's disease	29	27
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	24
Diabetes mellitus	17	27
Influenza and pneumonia	11	10