About 25% of ICU patients have the virus, according to Houston’s Chief medical officer, Dr. David Persse. About 10% of all patients in Houston-area hospitals have COVID-19. As of Tuesday, the Texas Medical Center reported 1,259 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, compared to 1,127 two weeks prior. The workload increases as more patients come in, and despite some traveling nurses still working in the Houston-area, medical staff can only treat so many patients in a 12-hour shift. “I think nurses are getting a little tired, a little worn out. We’re busy," said Kevin McFarlane, a Houston-area ER nurse, and president of the Houston chapter of the Emergency Nurses Association. “The emergency department is the only place in the hospital that doesn’t get to say no.”