St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital in Howell at full operational capacity

Clarification: The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized was updated after this story was originally published.

The county's main hospital, St. Joseph Mercy in Howell, is at capacity as hospitalizations from COVID-19 rise statewide.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 18 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Livingston County hospital.

There were 26 COVID-19 patients at the hospital with two in the intensive care unit earlier this week, according to state data.

"We are at full capacity operationally. Our COVID numbers wax and wane, they go up and down as we are caring for them. Some of them are being discharged from the ED, some are being admitted," said John O'Malley, president at St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell and St. Joseph Mercy Brighton.

"Two days ago we had 25 COVID patients and today we had 18," he said. "It goes up and down. We handled this before, we will continue handle it in the future.

The community should still feel safe coming to the facilities if they need help, O'Malley said.

He said the hospital is encouraging the community to receive a COVD-19 vaccine as the majority of admitted patients are unvaccinated.

"The vaccinated patients that we have had to admit, there are a lot of other co-morbidities going on with those cases," O'Malley said. "If you really want to help us out, those that can, please get vaccinated. Please get vaccinated. Please wear your mask. Please social distance whenever you can."

In Livingston County, 57.3% of residents over the age of 5 are fully vaccinated and 61.6% have received at least one dose.

Hospitals in neighboring counties are noticing a surge in cases, as well.

As of Thursday two Lansing hospitals, Sparrow Hospital and McLaren Greater Lansing, are at or nearing capacity.

Approximately 21,163 Livingston County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since March 2020. Of those, 605 required hospitalization and 239 have died.

Contact Kayla Daugherty at 517-552-2848 or kdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KayDaugherty92.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Hospital in Howell nearing full capacity