More than 850 COVID-19 patients are in ICU beds, which is 45% of the ICU availability. He said the shortage has resulted in long wait times at his hospital for sometimes desperately ill patients who need beds. I have patients waiting a long time to get into the emergency room. Ive had patients waiting in her cars to get into the emergency room because the emergency room is packed, he said. On Tuesday, 273 patients were waiting for beds while 41 of them were waiting for ICU beds, according to SETRAC.