When health officials talk about strong measures to ‘flatten the curve’ to fight the coronavirus, this is what they’re talking about

Measures that are being called “drastic” and “extreme” are necessary to keep the coronavirus and its covid-19 disease from overwhelming the U.S. health-care system, according to health experts and public officials. This chart roughly illustrates what happens when there is no action against a pandemic, and what happens when interventions flatten the transmission of the virus to a point where the health-care system can cope with it. It shows a somewhat idealistic scenario; The New York Times has an interactive version of this chart, with various scenarios.