Mountain State Times

There were 53 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in West Virginia during the week ending December 11, a 17.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 60 deaths in the state. less than 16.7 percent were from cancer and 188.3 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	60	69
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	53	64
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	< 10	0
Influenza and pneumonia	0	0
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	0
Diabetes mellitus	0	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	0	0
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	0	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	0	0
Heart disease	0	< 10