Oregon will approve coronavirus testing only for people sick enough to be hospitalized who don’t have the flu and people with symptoms who have either traveled to affected countries or who have had contact with a person confirmed to be sick, state and regional county health officials said Thursday.

That’s a departure from new federal guidelines allowing doctor discretion in determining who can get tested.

Oregon’s state lab has the capacity to test 80 samples a day, which equates to about 40 people, said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer. Getting results for one person can take anywhere from one to four tests, Sidelinger said, and averages out to about two tests per person.

The federal government has come under fire for maintaining strict testing standards because numerous other countries with broad criteria for testing have identified hundreds of cases. As of Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority had results for less than 50 people, even as state officials have said they believe there could be hundreds of cases in the state.

The rationale for sticking with the CDC’s old guidelines is multifold.

First, the state needs to keep testing capacity open for those who are at highest risk of the disease, Sidelinger said, which includes health care workers and those who had contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

If testing is opened up for “anyone with a fever,” then the system could be overwhelmed, he said. In the next week or two, Sidelinger said he expects commercial testing to become available, which is when more people would likely be able to get tested.

Second, if someone has mild symptoms, getting a test won’t necessarily change a thing, said Dr. Jennifer Vines, health officer for the tri-county area. There’s no treatment for the disease yet, so the recommendation for someone with a COVID-19 diagnosis would be the same as for someone with a regular cold: Stay home.

But several residents in the Portland area expressed frustration Thursday that the CDC has not provided enough tests so more people can be checked across the nation and locally.

Vancouver resident Kim Zem, 50, said she has been sick since Feb. 20, when she woke up with lungs that felt like they were on fire. Zem said she’s since been diagnosed with pneumonia but believes she has coronavirus and wants to be tested.

She said a medical professional at an urgent care facility told her that’s not possible under testing guidelines. Zem said she’s already self-quarantined and understands tests should be reserved for the sickest people, but nonetheless she wants to know.

“I think what bothers me the most is we keep getting promised test kits but they’re not getting delivered,” she said of a pledge by Vice President Mike Pence to increase testing access this week. “It seems like such a simple thing. The other countries are getting all these tests and we don’t have any.”

Lake Oswego resident Jen Wright, 41, said one of her children has been home sick this week with mild cold symptoms. The illness has spread to Wright and another one of her children, but she isn’t worried about coronavirus right now.

She would like a peace of mind, however, about a planned spring break trip to see her father, who has lung disease.

“I wish this was like South Korea, where they have the drive-through testing,” she said. “I don’t want to bring that to him.”

Another woman, whose child attends Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego, said she has been sick for six days with horrible body aches, a cough and fever that has reached 103 degrees. The woman, who did not want to be identified by name, said she considers herself a likely candidate for coronavirus and medical staff have put her on some sort of “list” she thinks might make her eligible for testing.

Oregon’s first confirmed case of coronavirus is a worker at the school.

The woman has already isolated herself at home but is frustrated that government officials aren’t tracking cases like her.

“I don’t care if I’m tested,” she said in a text message. “But if they are not testing, knowing there are all these very likely cases out there, the public should at least know that.”

Some people with mild symptoms associated with the Lake Oswego School District got tested even though they didn’t qualify under CDC guidelines, health officials said. None of them had the virus.

Overall, health experts expect the burden on the health care system to be similar to a bad flu season, Vines said. And, she said, for now the disease isn’t severe or widespread enough in Oregon to require preventive measures to prevent its spread, such as closing schools or canceling community events.

But vulnerable populations should take some care to prevent the spread of disease, officials said. Multnomah County now recommends that long-term care facilities consider making sick people stay home, posting signs telling people not to visit if they have symptoms of a respiratory disease and make practicing hygiene easy by providing the necessary materials, such as alcohol-based hand rub in every resident’s room.

In general, people who have no symptoms shouldn’t change how they live their lives, Vines said. While people’s concerns continue, she urged people to go get a flu shot if they haven’t done that yet. The season isn’t over.

Three people in Oregon have tested positive for the disease – the employee at Lake Oswego’s Forest Hills Elementary who lives in Washington County, someone in that person’s family and a casino worker who lives in Umatilla County.

As of Wednesday, 48 Oregonians had been tested for coronavirus, with an additional 13 awaiting results. County health departments were checking in on 115 people who could have the virus, based on their travel histories or contact with people known to be infected.

A total of 238 have gone through that monitoring process without showing any symptoms.

The state didn’t release new numbers Thursday.

Portland resident Andy Bean, 44, said he came down with flu-like symptoms on Monday and left work early as a precaution. He said he didn’t get better, with a strong cough, fluid in his lungs and a 102-degree temperature.

Bean said he worried about potentially having COVID-19 and exposing his child and wife, a teacher, or the hundreds of workers in his office.

By Wednesday, he was being treated at a local medical office.

Bean said he was escorted in through a back door by a medical worker in gloves, mask, goggles and a gown to a room where patients were being isolated.

Bean said a nurse took a nasal swab. He soon learned he had the flu.

“I guess in my case, I’m lucky that I tested positive for the flu,” he said. “Because I wouldn’t have been able to get a test for COVID.”

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oreogonian.com

503-294-7628| @_brad_schmidt

Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: