Michigan Medicine Illustrates Flatten the Curve

Submitted by HelloHeisman91 on March 12th, 2020 at 12:35 PM

I am a visual learner and this gif of a graph sums up what trying to slow the virus a bit will accomplish.  Hope this helps others understand why limiting crowds and contact can have a direct result in helping the health care system keep up with demand the sick will create. 
 

 

https://twitter.com/umichmedicine/status/1237835196608794624?s=21

evenyoubrutus

March 12th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^

Good info. What's even more important though is for everyone to wash their freaking hands as often as possible and don't touch their freaking faces. This is true 365 days a year, every year.

evenyoubrutus

March 12th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^

I think the 14 day quarantine thought process stems from the incubation period of the virus. Theoretically you are quarantined for 14 days and if you don't show symptoms, you're good to go. If you do show symptoms, you remain quarantined until you're feeling better. 

At least that would be the rational way to do it.

Red is Blue

March 12th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^

There were 181 confirmed cases with identifiable exposure and symptom onset windows to estimate the incubation period of COVID-19. The median incubation period was estimated to be 5.1 days (95% CI, 4.5 to 5.8 days), and 97.5% of those who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days (CI, 8.2 to 15.6 days) of infection. These estimates imply that, under conservative assumptions, 101 out of every 10 000 cases (99th percentile, 482) will develop symptoms after 14 days of active monitoring or quarantine.

You can be asymptomatic but still contagious.

 

Bodogblog

March 12th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^

This is really great, thank you 

So is the idea that the same # of people contract the virus, but they are just spread out over time?  I get spreading them out is the whole point of the video, but it wasn't clear to me if the total # of infected is decreased as well 

ak47

March 12th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^

The point of the video is that even if the same number of people get it, it is still valuable to spread it out. Social distancing should also theoritically decrease the number of people who get it, especially if it is like other coronaviruses that die under heat meaning summer coming will help (we don't know if this is the case yet but the lack of community spread in the southern hemisphere is a hopeful indicator) but that regardless if it reduces the total number it is still a winning strategy.

gruden

March 12th, 2020 at 1:30 PM ^

It's based on same number of people being infected, just spread out over more time so the medical system can handle it.

I think the idea is the virus is going to get around.  Chances are we have or will be exposed.  It's just a matter of slowing it down via soft quarantine to allow the hospitals to keep up.

MGoStrength

March 12th, 2020 at 1:26 PM ^

One of the few times I can remember thinking it's better to be a teacher than a doctor, PA, or nurse.

bluebyyou

March 12th, 2020 at 1:32 PM ^

If they want to flatten the curve, it seems that the best way to do so is to send home students that have means of getting home which is a substantial majority of students.  Living in a dorm or a frat or sorority house is like living in a petri dish.

Red is Blue

March 12th, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^

Couple of big assumptions here.  1) Are college age students likely to have severe enough symptoms to be hospitalized  2) Does sending them home increase the spread to their parents who, obviously, are older and therefore more likely to need hospitalization.

It is not impossible that the number of cases needing hospitalization (not cases overall) goes up if the students go home.  

robpollard

March 12th, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^

I wish people would understand this great point.

For this particular virus, it's not a disease that really affects (in a "get them to the hospital" let alone fatal which is extremely rare) the 25 and under crowd. So even if they are in a "petri dish" they are isolated, relatively speaking.

For the colleges that think the solution is "Get 'em out of here," think how many are going to live with parents who are 60-plus --- quite a few, not to mention those who live with grandparents. Those are the really at-risk folks.

There are no easy decisions, but doing what Harvard and Amherst etc did (essentially closing the dorms, with short notice, for their students) are just as likely to be creating a higher "spike" in hospitalizations (due to infections of older family members) than they are solving.

Couzen Rick's

March 12th, 2020 at 3:25 PM ^

I'm 25 and while I'm in a low-risk demo, I canceled a trip back to DTW for this exact reason. I'm sure as hell gonna do my damndest to make sure i don't get my parents sick, or others' parents and grandparents for that matter.

Even if it's just a cold - people are going to want to get tested, thus further clogging the health system. By canceling my trip, I mitigate risk of catching something at the airport/in the air.

Take care of your elders, even if it means avoiding them.

bluebyyou

March 12th, 2020 at 11:11 PM ^

So closing schools of all types makes no sense? Then why is this taking place?

 

Even if young people get mild cases or are asymptomatic, if they are out in the general population, they can infect those with a higher risk of a serious illness.  That is exactly what you don't want with very limited resources. Dorms and dwellings with many people, i.e., frat houses, are notoriously effective for spreading disease...not a novel concept.