Last Frontier News

There were less than 10 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alaska during the week ending June 17, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 17, there were 111 deaths in the state. 16.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.6% were from cancer and less than 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 June 17	Deaths in Week Ending June 10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	24	15
Heart disease	18	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	0
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10