WICHITA, Kan. (NewsNation Now) – For years, Lorrie Beck has been a caregiver for her mom, Shirley.

“My mom is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her mom died of the disease, as did her older sister. So, I passionately despise this disease,” Beck said.

Beck’s mom has been in a long-term care facility since 2019.

“We were able to visit my mom nearly every single day in the care facility. We would help her eat. We would take her for walks,” she said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic that changed.

“I thought, she’s in the late stages of this disease. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t remember things. She doesn’t know that I’m not there every single day,” Beck said.

At first, Beck’s mom seemed to do well, even getting off hospice in October.

“They released her because she was improving and that was good and then a month later, she came down with COVID. About a month after that, she lost weight, and she went back on hospice,” Beck explained.

“I was very sad because here I was thinking, ah, she’s in the late stages, it’s not going to affect her. She’s isolated, you know in her mind, and I was totally wrong; totally wrong,” she said.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the number of dementia deaths in 2020 through November was 16% higher than expected.

In a blog post, the organization said, “as of September 2020, over one-third of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with COVID-19 have had a dementia diagnosis.” Additionally, there were over 41,000 more deaths than expected due to Alzheimer’s or another dementia in 2020, the organization said.

While researchers aren’t sure of specific reasons for the increase, factors associated with the pandemic may contribute to the increase.

“One of the things to kind of keep our brain active and healthy is that social interaction, and then when you’re not getting it, that is really hard on those individuals,” said Breana Tucker, program director for the Alzheimer’s Association Central and Western Kansas chapter.

Other factors may include overburdened health care systems, missed COVID-19 diagnoses, and lapses in long-term care, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Tucker explained a lack of short term memory may play a part, “People with dementia may forget to wash their hands or take other precautions.”

Advocates are encouraging people with loved ones battling the disease to keep up interaction — safely.

For Beck, that’s through window visits, “I was hoping that I was keeping us connected. My voice, continuing to say her name, my name, my sister’s name.”

Researchers with the association are still looking into the impact COVID-19 can have on the brain.

NewsNation affiliate KSNW contributed to this report.