Good morning. I'm Allison Michaels with the Washington Post and this is the Daily

202 for Monday, May 18th. James is out but I'll be here instead with the day's top headlines. Here's three stories

that should be on your radar. Number one, four months into the US coronavirus outbreak tests for the virus are finally becoming widely

available.

Now that's a crucial step toward lifting stay-at-home orders and safely returning to normal

life. But while many states no longer report

crippling supply shortages, my Washington Post colleagues Steve Thompson, Juliet Alperin, and

Brady Dennis report a new problem has emerged. Too few people are lining up to

get tested. A Washington Post survey of Governor's offices and state health departments found

at least a dozen states where testing

capacity outstrips the supply of patients. Many have scrambled to make testing

more convenient, especially for vulnerable communities, by setting up pop-up sites and developing apps that help assess

symptoms, find free test sites, and deliver quick results.

But the numbers, while rising, are well short of capacity capacity and far short of targets set by independent

experts. Utah for example is conducting about 3,500 tests a day that's a little

more than a third of its 9,000 test maximum

capacity. Health officials have even erected highway billboards begging

drivers to get tested for COVID-19. So why aren't more people showing up? Experts say

several factors may be preventing more people from seeking tests, including

a lingering sense of scarcity, a lack of access in rural and underserved communities, and skepticism

about testing operations.

Another major hurdle lingering confusion about who qualifies.

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