Even as President Donald Trump promised that more coronavirus tests are coming soon, Louisiana health officials on Friday urged doctors to send samples from patients who don’t meet the state’s strict testing criteria to private labs that are rapidly ramping up their capacity.

But patients and doctors in the New Orleans area, the heart of Louisiana’s coronavirus outbreak, still said they are being thwarted in their attempts to obtain tests, and many worried about how much the tests or related hospital and doctor visits will cost.

The number of tests performed at the state lab remains paltry, at 108 tests performed with 36 results presumed to be positive. And anger over the response is growing.

Dr. Alexander Billioux, assistant secretary at the Louisiana Office of Public Health, said the state still needs to conserve capacity at its lab for those who are most at risk.

But that doesn't mean doctors should turn away patients with symptoms of the coronavirus, state officials said.

Instead, the state issued guidance to physicians on Friday that they should send tests for patients who can wait longer for results to private labs, which can take several days to yield results.

State officials have asked the two biggest private lab companies in the country to report how many tests it has run on samples from Louisiana. However, Billioux said the state doesn’t yet have a handle on how many commercial tests have been done.

+4 Testing for coronavirus in Louisiana: Why people are saying they're 'very concerned' Many sick people in and around New Orleans haven't been able to get tested for the new coronavirus, and their frustrations mounted Thursday am…

Hospitals and clinics in New Orleans are all working to get access to more private testing, according to Dr. Jennifer Avegno, who leads the city’s Health Department.

“There is not a satisfactory supply of commercial tests anywhere in the country,” she said at a City Hall press conference. “Our hospitals and many of our clinics are really trying to be creative in how they get access to testing.”

The testing shortage was front and center at a press conference in Washington, D.C., where Trump declared a national emergency.

Trump and senior staffers laid out a new testing strategy designed to screen hundreds of thousands of Americans at drive-through centers based around major retail chains.

Countries including South Korea and Germany have been using that approach for weeks, allowing people to quickly provide a throat or nasal swab for testing without leaving their cars.

"We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly and conveniently," Trump said. But he added that the test is not intended for everyone, such as those without symptoms.

The moves came a day after one of the government's top health officials called the initial testing effort "a failing" and health care professionals, politicians and patients across the country complained about lack of access to testing.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is the leading the government's coronavirus task force, said the U.S. can currently test 15,000 to 20,000 patients per day, but that the number would increase "very soon."

Are you a Louisianan who has sought testing for the coronavirus? We want to hear from you. In our reporting on the coronavirus, we are trying to better understand who is being tested in Louisiana, who isn't, and why. If you are or ha…

Health officials said Friday that a new website "facilitated" by Google would guide users through a series of questions to determine whether they should be screened. If testing is recommended, users would be directed to a local testing location, which could include parking lots at Walmart, Target, Walgreens and other major chains. People will be able to log on to the screening website later to view test results, according to the administration.

The website could be ready by Sunday night, officials said, and results could be turned around in 24 to 36 hours.

Still, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards cautioned that the expanded testing promised by the president won’t arrive immediately.

“Those tests are not going to be available tonight," he said. "It takes time to put these things into place.”

Despite weeks of promises from Washington, the reality on the ground in Louisiana remained infuriating for doctors and patients seeking certainty.

Several reported seeking guidance through official channels on what to do, only to be told to go to an emergency room for testing. But one doctor who asked not to be identified worried that a trip to the ER could saddle uninsured patients with massive costs, even if the price of the test itself is waived.

“There is no affordable infrastructure set up for this,” the doctor said. “All the CDC rec(ommendation)s say, ‘call your doctor,’ with no clear alternative for those without a doctor.”

Billioux urged patients who don't have insurance to go to federally-funded community health clinics. He said some cost concerns can't be solved by the state alone.

"The health sector has to help solve those challenges," he said.

A spokesperson for LCMC Health, which operates University Medical Center, Touro Infirmary, West Jefferson Medical Center, New Orleans East Hospital and Children’s Hospital, said the network was following the state’s guidance on testing.

But the spokesperson didn’t answer questions about whether that meant the network was sending samples to private labs where available — or how much testing will cost for either insured or uninsured patients.

Another major network, Ochsner Health, also didn’t answer questions about how much testing will cost. Ochsner has designated urgent care clinics in Mid-City, Houma and Mandeville as locations that will exclusively treat patients with coronavirus symptoms.

Despite the state's guidance that symptomatic patients should receive private testing if they don't meet state criteria, many people said Friday that they were still being turned away if they didn't meet the bar set by the state and CDC.

One 34-year-old New Orleans resident, who asked not to be identified to avoid the “stigma” of coronavirus, said he went into self-isolation after his effort to be tested was thwarted at University Medical Center on Thursday.

Earlier this week the man had a cough, shortness of breath and a high fever — all symptoms of the disease. The only guidance he got from state health officials was to go to an emergency room, he said.

Before he went in, he called the hospital to find out how much the test would cost. After he was repeatedly transferred to different officials, he finally found one who was willing to hazard a guess.

"It could be a couple hundred dollars; it could be several thousand," he was told. "We don’t know, because we’ve never sent out bills for COVID-19 testing."

He was tested at the hospital for the flu and pneumonia, which both came back negative, the man said. He was told he might have coronavirus but that he didn’t qualify for state lab testing. On his way out the door, he was given a vague pamphlet about “viral syndrome.”

“Am I supposed to self-quarantine for the next five weeks? It’s not clear,” he said. “In all likelihood you’re on your own. An every-man-for-himself situation.”