Equality State News

There were 15 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Wyoming during the week ending Dec. 25, a 6.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 25, there were 94 deaths in the state. 18.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.1 percent were from cancer and 31.9 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
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	18	16
Heart disease	17	14
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	15
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	15	16
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	0	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10