Bluegrass Times

There were 26 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending Dec. 25, a 67.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 161 deaths in the state. 23 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.5 percent were from cancer and 30.4 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18
Heart disease	37	96
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	26	81
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	25	90
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	23	69
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	14	35
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	11
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	19