Beehive State News

There were 17 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Utah during the week ending July 16, 2022, a 19% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 16, 2022, there were 425 deaths in the state. 20% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6% were from cancer and 7.3% 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 July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Heart disease	85	76
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	75	56
Alzheimer's disease	20	24
Cerebrovascular diseases	17	18
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	17	21
Diabetes mellitus	14	20
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	14	14
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	13	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	33	53