People are sharing their frustrating attempts to get tested for the Coronavirus in America

It's no secret that the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak has been far from ideal. With the President himself repeatedly downplaying the severity of the crisis and then later changing his tune once the World Health Organization officially declared it a pandemic, the government's handling of the current situation can only be described as "running around like headless chickens." Meanwhile, it's the citizens who are having to pay the price for the chaos in the White House. Despite Trump's claim that this is the "most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," a number of frustrated individuals who attempted to get themselves tested for the virus, have a completely different tale to tell.

Twitter user Andrew Lawrence recently shared the text messages he'd received from a friend who made multiple attempts to get herself tested—all in vain. Have a friend worried she has coronavirus... she’s trying to do the right thing and get tested. Here’s how that went, Lawrence tweeted. In the text messages, his friend reveals that since she'd been experiencing a few symptoms, she couldn't go to work until she's cleared by a doctor. "I feel bad for anyone who has this damn virus because I've literally been on the phone since 9 a.m. and have gotten nowhere," she revealed.

"Called my Primary care provider to make an appt. When I told them my symptoms, they told me to call the Dept of Health in the event regular flu test came back negative and I needed to be tested for COVID-19. Hung up and called the Dept of Health," she continued. The woman revealed that when she got through to the Department of Health, she was in turn told to call her PCP for an evaluation. When informed that she'd already done so and had been asked to call the DoH, the department told her that they couldn't help her.

With no other option in sight, the woman called her PCP again and relayed the DoH's message. However, she was informed that the PCP wasn't equipped to help her if COVID-19 testing was necessary. They suggested trying her luck with an urgent care facility but advised her to call first. "Called the urgent care facility. They told me to call the DoH. I told them my phone call journey. They suggested calling the ER," the woman revealed. "Called the ER. They told me to (wait for it) call the Dept of Health!!! I told them I had, then they instructed me to call the CDC. And I've been on hold with them for 45 minutes," she continued.

"Haven't even spoken to a human being there yet," she added. The woman informed her friend that her throat is so raw from coughing that it hurts to talk and that having to talk to repeat herself to a "bunch of people who are clearly NOT working on the same plan of action is beyond frustrating." When the CDC finally did answer, she was again told to contact the Department of Health. "I give up," the woman concluded.

While this woman's experience raises a lot of questions about how prepared the government actually is to handle the outbreak, the one shared by Twitter user Liz Gumbinner is even worse. My brother's ex-wife returned from S Korea with what doctors believe is #COVID19, was admitted to GWU hospital, and against the Chief of Staff's recommendation, the Department of Health WILL NOT TEST HER, Gumbinner tweeted.

The woman revealed that she was told she had tested positive for the flu after waiting in an isolation room in the ER for several hours. However, the doctor later informed her that there was a mix-up and she had tested negative for the flu and needed a coronavirus test. "Time passed and I didn't hear anything, After several hours, the doctor came back in and told me she was very sorry but the department of health was refusing to run the test. They said I wasn't in South Korea long enough. She was furious. She said she was still trying to get them to change their mind. She got the chief of staff involved. She kept trying. Nothing," the possibly-infected woman revealed.

Although she was ultimately asked to continue to self-quarantine, she may never know if she actually had the Coronavirus. "Do I have Covid-19? Who knows. Do we have a broken public healthcare system that is utterly failing during a health pandemic? Absolutely," she said.