Maryland State Wire

There were 77 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Maryland during the week ending November 6, a 7.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,051 deaths in the state. 19.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.7 percent were from cancer and 16.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	205	230
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	197	181
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	94	98
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	77	83
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	58
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	29	23
Diabetes mellitus	28	33
Alzheimer's disease	23	20
Influenza and pneumonia	13	18
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	98	97