Maryland State Wire

There were 50 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Maryland during the week ending Feb. 19, a 52.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 19, there were 709 deaths in the state. 18.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5 percent were from cancer and 16.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.4 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 2022-02-19	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	138	194
Heart disease	131	198
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	67	138
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	51
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	50	106
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	23	28
Alzheimer's disease	21	17
Diabetes mellitus	20	22
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	74	93