From the start of the state’s coronavirus crisis, the focus has been on testing to determine the scope of COVID-19’s spread to hopefully slow it and “flatten the curve.”

But that effort has been plagued by challenges — not enough test kits, confusion among providers about who can do testing and where, and a public that is demanding more tests than the state could possibly provide.

During a Monday afternoon press conference, Gov. Jared Polis expressed frustration with the state’s testing effort for both the amount of time it takes and the challenge of getting tests into the field.

“Scaling that up has been very frustrating,” Polis said. “We are always chasing where it was three-to-five days ago. The data is a trailing indicator.”

Polis said a temporary testing facility would operate in Telluride Tuesday and others would be opened around the state throughout the week. But, while he has touted that Colorado is doing better than many other states, he acknowledged it has taken longer than he wanted.

“The governor has made access to testing a top priority, and we’re doing everything we can to increase capacity at the state lab,” said Scott Bookman, state health department incident commander for COVID-19.

From Sunday to Monday, the number of people tested jumped significantly, from more than 700 to 1,216.