Silver State Times

There were 74 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Nevada during the week ending July 17, a 57.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 675 deaths in the state. 24 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.6 percent were from cancer and 21.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 3.6 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Heart disease	162	134
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	92	98
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	74	47
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	72	43
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	25	24
Cerebrovascular diseases	20	26
Diabetes mellitus	18	16
Alzheimer's disease	10	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	24	41