A phrase we’ve heard over and over is “flatten the curve” but what does that actually mean? It’s a simple concept but Congressman Raul Ruiz said the weight it carries is absolutely crucial.

“The curve that everyone is referring to is the curve of transmission of Coronavirus,” Ruiz said. “So if you look at this graph, this axis is the amount of people with Coronavirus, this axis means time.”

If we do nothing, Ruiz said the bell shaped curve will peak quicker.

“This is the part that we really need to pay attention to,” Ruiz said, pointing at the dotted line. “Our healthcare capacity is represented by this dotted line, once you have the amount of cases that exceed our healthcare capacity, that’s where you start to have the vulnerabilities of death and people dying because you simply can’t keep taking care of them.”

That’s what’s starting to happen in New York City and other hot spots. To avoid that from happening at home, Ruiz said we can do two things.

“We need to improve our efficiencies,” he said. “That’s why I’ve called for a strike team to better create efficiencies with testing, discharge, hospital planning as well as increase the number of supplies and beds that we have.”

The fairgrounds in Indio are now one of the eight field medical sites. Ruiz said that raises the dotted line, representing the capacity of our local healthcare system.

The second thing that can be done is social distancing.

“That will blunt the curve, that’s when you get this curve here,” Ruiz said, pointing to the flattened curve.

Ruiz said according to the Riverside County numbers, we’re playing catch-up with a rising bell curve.

“April 15 and April 21, we’re going to be here,” Ruiz said, pointing at the area approaching the dotted line. “That’s their projections, so anything after that is going to be the vulnerability of people dying because we don’t have the capacity to keep them alive.”

Ruiz said that doesn’t have to be the case. As a community, we can save lives by doing our part to flatten the curve.

Graph courtesy: NPR

What Does it Mean to ‘Flatten the Curve’?