The hospitals in Los Angeles are bursting at the seams with Covid patients. Some ambulance drivers are reporting being diverted long distances away or waiting hours outside of hospitals with their critically ill. Even worse, according to The Los Angeles Times, “The situation in Los Angeles County hospitals is so critical that ambulance crews have been advised to cut back on their use of oxygen and to not bring to hospitals patients who have virtually no chance of survival. Officials say they need to focus on patients with a greater chance of surviving.”

One in five LA residents are now testing positive for coronavirus, and officials in the hard-hit region are predicting the death toll could soar to more than 1,000 people per week https://t.co/ywEJdhVWnp

— CNN (@CNN) January 5, 2021

The LA Times writes that “the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency issued a directive Monday that ambulance crews should conserve oxygen by administering it only to patients who have oxygen saturation levels below 90%.” Further “to reduce demand on hospitals, the agency issued memos directing ambulance staff not to transfer to hospitals most patients who have virtually no chance of survival.”

Let this sink in:

Sobering—Los Angeles County EMS has issued 2 edicts for ambulance ? crews to:

?NOT transport patients w/ little chance of survival to hospitals

?*conserve the use of oxygen* only for the most critical. (Edict letter below) #COVID19https://t.co/8BSsAdswjF pic.twitter.com/sLa0mlmoNP

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 5, 2021

Watch more above from CBS Los Angeles.