Volunteer State News

There were 73 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending March 19, 2022, a 27% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 19, 2022, there were 1,072 deaths in the state. 20.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.1% were from cancer and 11.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7% 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 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Heart disease	220	244
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	183	173
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	65	51
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	51	83
Alzheimer's disease	39	37
Cerebrovascular diseases	39	53
Diabetes mellitus	36	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	12

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	93	92