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What lives are being lost to COVID?
The older, those with underlying diseases, those with weak immune systems. Of the more than 9,500 people in Canada who succumbed to COVID in the first wave, between March and July, 90 per cent had at least one other cause, condition or complication reported on the death certificate, according to Statistics Canada.
Dementia or Alzheimer’s, the most common conditions associated with COVID-involved deaths, were listed on the death certificate of 42 per cent of women, and 33 per cent of men. More than half of seniors aged 80 and older living in long term care have dementia.
Cancer, nervous system disorders like Parkinson’s or ALS, respiratory disease, diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, high blood pressure and pneumonia — all increase the risk of a lethal case of COVID. All are more common among people aged 65 and older, who accounted for 94 per cent of all COVID-involved deaths in the first wave. But they also affect millions of Canadians. Some three million are living with diabetes, more than seven million with hypertension.