curve flattening

curve flattening (plural curve flattenings)

1. (infectiology, epidemiology, pathology) The action of to flatten the curve. The activity of reducing the speed of infection, so that the peak active infection cases are lower.

The curve represents the total number of currently infected over time. A flattened curve shows a gently sloped hill of a graph, while one that was not flattened shows a steep-sided mountain of a graph. The goal of curve flattening is to reduce peak infections below the capacity of the healthcare system to treat infected, allowing all infected to receive infected treatment.

• curve-flattening ((adj.) attributive form)
• flatten the curve ((v.))

• social distancing (the measures typically used for curve flattening)