[DataDrivenMD]

We were careful not to assume that all public health departments would engage in testing. We manually verified the information, and for those public health agencies that explicitly indicated on their websites or through direct channels that they offered testing we marked them as "offers COVID-19 testing".

That being said, there are many areas of the country where the local, county, and state health departments effectively function as gatekeepers. In those communities, people have no choice but to call their health department and hope for the best. If they meet testing criteria, then they are referred to a testing location or fast-tracked through an existing healthcare provider’s queue.

If nothing else, this site crystallizes the fuzzy image that we all had in mind with respect to testing capacity. The situation is changing all the time, and we expect things to get better. You can help by raising awareness, and asking people you know in the Midwest and Southern states to visit our site and share their on-the-ground knowledge of the situation.