COVID-19: The meaning of ‘flattening the curve’ as used by the Ministry of Health (MoH)

COVID-19 has established entirely different and trying times. Its situation has posed a confusing state, especially among the Generations Y and Z.

The circumstances posed by COVID-19 had been experienced earlier, long before the present generation. It has also come with new terminologies and scientific explanations that even the previous generation cannot explain. However, not all things around COVID-19 are bad.

The novel coronavirus has forced the human race to the edges, struggling to find solutions for the rapidly infectious pandemic that has taken the world with a storm. The virus has also nurtured a learning era by enforcing key terminologies such as ‘the curve,’ ‘patient zero,’ and many more. Scientists only hence know most of these words, could sound strange to the public.

What is the Curve? 

The “curve” health practitioners are talking about means the projectable number of people who are likely to contract the disease over a specified period.

Evidently, it is not difficult to predict the number of people who are likely to contract COVID-19 over the next few days based on the current infection rate. However, the theoretical number makes the prediction difficult. Regardless of the case, the COVID-19 infection curve, just like in any other pandemic, takes on a distinct shape based on the infection rate of the virus.

The curve may be steep when the number of people infected with the disease doubles consistently or fall and eventually flattens when the infection rate reduces consistently over time. 

How to Flatten the Curve

Flattening the curve requires a collective action due to the lack of COVID-19 vaccine nor efficient testing.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization recommends washing hands, staying at home, avoiding social gathering, embracing social distancing and isolation as key preventive measures against the virus. 

How the Flattening the Curve Works 

Flattening the curve had worked in the previous pandemic including the Spanish flu in 1918.

It works by hinting on the need to enforce more measures or releasing some of the containment measures for other vital developments to take place within the society.