Amidst of Covid-19 Pandemic What Does Flatten The Curve Means

According to CNN Philippines news the word " Flatten the curve" was taken from 2007 According to CDC Interim Pre-Pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza mitigation in the United States.

From twitter

Whereas the,

• Y axis show daily number of infection and

• X axis is the number of days since the first case detected.

• The Peak in the graph states pandemic outbreak with no intervention. Peak means huge increase in number of infected people. In this scenario the hospital or healthcare system is exhausted with the increase of infected people.

• The Dotted Line in the graph represents the health care system capacity.

Dr. Drew A. Harris, DPM, MPH, a population health analyst at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, properly explain the graph.

The reason for flattening the curve is that it buys you time and time is the most precious commodity that you can have so you can identify those who are sick with the disease.

With proper intervention such as quarantine, lock down and observing social distancing, the goal is to flatten the curve. The more gradual rate of infections over longer period of time with proper intervention help the health system, police, government officials doctors, scientist and other frontliners  can better manage pandemic.

The ideal goal in fighting an epidemic or pandemic is to completely halt the spread. But merely slowing it — mitigation — is critical. This reduces the number of cases that are active at any given time, which in turn gives doctors, hospitals, police, schools and vaccine-manufacturers time to prepare and respond, without becoming overwhelmed. Most hospitals can function with 10 percent reduction in staff, but not with half their people out at once.

~ The New York Times

How can we help and do our part in flattening the curve.

1. By staying at home
2. Observing social distancing
3. And practicing good hygiene

Let us do our parts and save lives. Keep safe everyone and God bless us all.