ROYAL OAK — Three Beaumont hospitals in Metro Detroit are restricting visitors for pediatric units as of Wednesday due to a rise in respiratory illnesses in the hospital and throughout the community, officials announced in a press release.

Starting Wednesday, Dec. 13, the following Corewell Health hospitals will be restricting the number of people allowed to visit a pediatric patient:

• Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn
• Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak
• Beaumont Hospital, Troy

Only two people will be allowed to visit “at the bedside during the day” and only one person will be allowed to visit overnight, Corewell Health officials said.

These restrictions apply only for patients 21 years of age or younger on the pediatric inpatient units and emergency centers at the mentioned hospitals, which remain open and ready to care for patients.

To protect yourself and your children from respiratory viruses, experts at Corewell Health recommend:

• Stay home if you are sick.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Get vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19.

Standard visitor protocols remain in place for the remaining patients.

According to a press release released Wednesday, the visitor restrictions come amid a time when a “high number” of children are being admitted to the hospitals with respiratory viruses. The respiratory illnesses are said to be spreading throughout the community at large, as well.

Beaumont hospitals had invoked visitor restrictions in the past, particularly during the height of the COVID pandemic. Illnesses often spread faster and further during the colder months, with more and more people spending time indoors, especially during the holiday season.

Corewell Health is encouraging people to get their COVID and flu vaccines, and to stay home if they’re sick. U.S. health officials said earlier this month that RSV lung infections, which most seriously affect children and older adults, were believed to be peaking for the season.

Flu was on the rise in many states, however, and COVID was still causing the most hospitalizations and deaths among respiratory illnesses.