Magnolia State News

There were 57 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending March 5, a 24% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 516 deaths in the state. 20.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.9% were from cancer and 25% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Heart disease	107	134
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	87	104
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	72	96
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	57	75
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	42
Diabetes mellitus	27	17
Alzheimer's disease	26	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	25	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	18
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	17

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	40	54