In these countries, flattening the curve does not mean an immediate end to the coronavirus, but instead a slow decline in the number of new cases. A decrease in the number of new cases helps to lower the number of hospitalizations and deaths, providing more capacity among health care systems, which ensures hospitals and medical facilities won’t become overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.
Data from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), provides detailed graphs showing the different coronavirus curves in different countries across the world.
According to data provided by IHME, countries such as France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and China have already flattened the coronavirus curve.
Spain and Italy have the second and third most reported cases in the world behind the U.S., but both European nations are beginning to see a decline in the number of newly reported cases as the peak of the illness has passed. France, Ireland, Portugal and China have also passed the peak of the virus in their countries and flattened the curve.
In the graphs produced by IHME, Greece and Germany have yet to reach the peak of the virus, but it is projected that they will not see a shortage in medical resources needed to treat infected patients.
In all cases, the countries used social distancing and quarantine measures to obtain a decline in new cases.
China, where the virus originated, was the first country to implement lockdowns in early January when the virus was beginning to spread rapidly. Cases of COVID-19 spiked in China in February, and have since slowly decreased. According to a tracker provided by Johns Hopkins University, there are over 82,000 cases and at least 3,339 deaths in China. The Asian country has also seen over 77,000 recoveries. However, there are disputes among intelligence communities, including the U.S., that China is not reporting accurate numbers in connection to the virus.
Nationwide lockdowns were also implemented in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Germany. These lockdowns include closures of nonessential businesses and schools, as well as enforcing social distancing orders, urging people to stay at least 6 feet away from each other. While these countries continue to report new coronavirus cases, these measures have helped decrease the daily rate of infection.
According to the tracker, there are over 152,000 cases in Spain, over 139,000 in Italy, over 113,000 in Germany and over 83,000 in France. Portugal, Ireland and Greece have seen lower numbers in comparison, with 13,956, 6,074 and 1,884, respectively.
