What Is 'Flattening the Curve' and Why Does It Matter to Hospitals?
As the spread of the coronavirus continues, everyone from the medical community to government officials is talking about "flattening the curve." What does it mean, exactly? The "curve" here refers to the line on a graph that rises as the number of cases of a particular infectious disease increase, then falls as that number goes down. Flattening that line means slowing transmission of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, so a community or society doesn't end up with an overwhelming number of cases all at the same time.
Graphically, we see this as a line that rises slightly and stabilizes over time at a certain level, then declines at the same measured pace. Considered the best way to stop the pandemic, this flattening of the curve can save lives by allowing hospitals the time and resources to treat everyone who needs services.
So far, the U.S. has reported more than 1,600 cases of COVID-19, while global cases have topped 164,800. If a large group of people become infected all at once, the number of cases in a geographic area will overwhelm the healthcare system, indicated by the capacity line, which is somewhat arbitrary in the below image but is useful for illustrative purposes.
Source Fool.com
