Young and fit 24-year-old Alex Lewis and her partner Ed were initially knocked back when they tried to get tested for coronavirus.

Key points: Doctors say a lack of personal protective equipment and test kits is hampering testing of people who may have coronavirus

Doctors say a lack of personal protective equipment and test kits is hampering testing of people who may have coronavirus Experts acknowledge that some people with coronavirus will miss out on testing

Experts acknowledge that some people with coronavirus will miss out on testing Alex Lewis and her partner Ed were told they couldn't be tested because they didn't meet the testing criteria

"We both were having similar symptoms and we were both turned away as we had not been in contact with anyone with coronavirus," Ms Lewis told 7.30.

"I had a bit of a cold, it was like a mild dry cough, then I woke up the next morning with a full-blown flu, the headache, fever, chills, body ache, exhaustion, that kind of thing."

They didn't fit the criteria for at-risk coronavirus patients — they hadn't been overseas recently and hadn't had direct contact with anyone who was infected, as far as they knew.

So they both went back to work, but three days later someone they knew tested positive.

Last week they were finally tested and the results came back positive for COVID-19.

"The first shock of being diagnosed was pretty intense, feeling sad and confused and worried for the people we had seen," Ms Lewis said.

"The fear of giving it to someone who is a little bit more vulnerable is definitely on our minds."

'We only have a certain quantity of the test'

Professor Bruce Thompson says testing needs to focus on those at highest risk. ( ABC News )

With a shortage of personal protective equipment stocks and pathology test kits in Australia, GPs are being urged to test only those most at risk.

Professor Bruce Thompson, Dean of Health Sciences at Swinburne University, said that doctors can only follow the guidelines for testing as they stand.

"We only have a certain quantity of the test," he told 7.30.

"So we need to look at the high-risk groups.

"That's been most effective in actually detecting whether someone has the disease or not."

Professor Thompson said there will be people who have the virus but have not been tested.

"It is likely that the actual incidence will increase," he said.

"So, anything we can do to stop it spreading is a really good thing.

"We need to be vigilant about this."

'We can't test if we don't have equipment'

Dr Marek Steiner would like to test as many people for coronavirus as possible. ( ABC News )

Across the country, medical centres like the Medplaza Medical Practice in Sydney's inner west are struggling to cope with the increased workload as they introduce measures to deal safely with coronavirus.

"The last few days, the concern has really gone up," Dr Marek Steiner told 7.30.

"It's all about, okay, what do I need to do?

"Some people are quite panicked."

Dr Steiner is worried that some patients with coronavirus are being missed.

"At the moment, we are only catching patients that satisfy a very narrow set of guidelines," he said.

"We know that a quarter of people being tested positive had no contact and did not satisfy that initial set of criteria.

"So we know COVID19 is spreading in the community, we need to test to capture as many people as possible."

It is a shortage of protective equipment that is proving to be the major obstacle to doing that.

"Testing has been a real concern for us," Dr Steiner said.

"Initially, we were setting up to test here but we lack personal protective equipment: we received a few boxes of masks but don't have gowns or goggles.

"We can't test if we don't have that equipment, so we are relying on pathology and hospitals to check."

'I'm feeling a bit flat'

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 28 seconds 28 s Alex Lewis says she is going to start looking up exercise videos on YouTube.

Alex and Ed are into day six of their isolation.

"I haven't done any exercise for three weeks now, [since] I first started getting symptoms, so I'm feeling a little bit flat and I haven't moved in a really long time," Ms Lewis said.

"I think today we're going to put a YouTube video on about exercising inside. Maybe yoga or Pilates."

And while they are still unsure how they picked up the infection, they are taking a positive attitude to their recovery.

"As soon as we feel better, we can go get tested," Ms Lewis said.

"If that test comes back negative, we wait for a couple of days before our next test and if that test comes back negative too, we can walk free."