Imagine being in critical condition and waiting for hours inside an ambulance park just outside of the emergency room.

That's the reality right now in Los Angeles County.

The COVID-19 outbreak is so devastating in the country's most populous county.

One in three residents have tested positive for the virus.

ICU units are full and patients are being treated in hospital lobbies and hallways.

LA now one person dies every eight minutes from coronavirus.

Every eight minutes by the time we get done chatting a person has died.

Two people have done.

That's CNN correspondent Sarah Sidener.

She's been providing on the ground news coverage of the pandemic in LA County.

Sarah and I know each other well.

We've both reported from conflict zones around the globe.

But nothing could have prepared us for what we are now seeing in our own country.

When someone sees a war zone and they see me in Afghanistan or Libya, you know, and they see, you know, children and families dying.

People reach out. They reach out on social media. They text me.

Oh my god, I'm so I can't believe what's going on over there.

Here in America we're literally fighting with each other while we're killing each other.

For a recent story, Sarah attended a funeral service held in a parking lot in LA.

The mariachi music you're hearing is from a band playing at the ceremony.

Sarah visited 10 hospitals and witnessed families like the one you're about to hear, coping with losing a loved one to COVID-19.

Juliana Jimenez-Sesma told Sarah about the last word she said to her mother before she died.

I told her mom, do not be afraid for the Lord is with us.

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