RICHMOND, Va. — A state official says Virginia mental hospitals are struggling with dangerously high numbers of patients.

Behavioral Health Commissioner Alison Land told a committee of legislators studying mental health services on Tuesday that the state’s eight public mental hospitals for adults are at 96% of their capacity.

She says the pandemic has made the picture “bleaker, not better.”

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the census numbers are prompting the facilities to delay admissions and are straining law enforcement’s ability to maintain custody of people waiting for treatment.