Keystone Today

There were 144 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending May 29, a 26.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 29, there were 2,503 deaths in the state. 21.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 10.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-05-29	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22
Heart disease	543	567
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	462	509
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	144	196
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	127	164
Cerebrovascular diseases	122	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	97	105
Diabetes mellitus	77	73
Alzheimer's disease	68	78
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	63	47
Influenza and pneumonia	16	30

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	208	222