Great Lakes Wire

There were 33 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Michigan in the week ending April 30, making up 2.7% of total deaths by all causes in Michigan, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending April 30, there were 1,204 deaths in the state. 24.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.2% were from cancer and 5% 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	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	293	24.3
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	267	22.2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	6.6
Alzheimer's disease	60	5
Cerebrovascular diseases	53	4.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	3.1
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	33	2.7
Diabetes mellitus	28	2.3
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	27	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	23	1.9