The first version of the now-ubiquitous “flatten the curve” chart appeared in a 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The image, titled “Goals of Community ...

The phrase refers to a so-called epidemic curve that is commonly used to visualize why public and individual efforts to contain the spread of the virus are crucial. IE 11 is not supported.

On page 18, a graphic appears called Goals of Community Mitigation. No one I’ve talked to at the CDC can remember who made it, but the image is the root of Flatten the Curve as it appears today.

Flattening the curve Basically, it all comes down to the realities of the limits of the health care system, says Carl Bergstrom , computational biologist at the University of Washington.