Well your alleged doctor friends are wrong.
Patient goes to ER with potential symptoms. Patient is screened at entrance and based on what he says, he is sent to a security room. Doctor comes in and questions him then administers the virus test which takes 48 hours for the result to come back. Patient is advised to go home and avoid contact with anyone, county health department is notified and they perform a personal check the following day. If person tests positive 48 hours later, he is quarantined. If not, he is free to live his life.
Second scenario:
Person enters ER with potential symptoms and is sent to the secure room. Person is questioned by doctors and if person admits they have had contact with anyone diagnosed with the virus, they are immediately sent to quarantine following the virus test. If virus test comes back 48 hours later showing negative, he is free to go home.......If positive, he remains in quarantine.
I posted an email from a hospital with a few thousand patients a day.
I’m telling you that urgent care places are referring folks to hospitals. Telling them don’t come to our facility. Go there.
They go and no testing.
Let’s assuje your theory is correct and what you described is the national norm.
Do you actually believe only 77 people wanted to be tested in the past week?
More likely (per a poster response here) they are out of a key ingridienr to test and are lying to the public to prevent panic.