Animation, 'Flatten the Curve'

This graphic, created by comic artist Toby Morris in collaboration with Dr Siouxsie Wiles, explains the ‘flatten the curve’ concept and shows people how they can help to slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus through individual actions. Originally published on The Spinoff website on March 9 2020, the graphic was shared millions of times around the world. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern held up a printed version of the illustration during a press conference, and former President of the United States Barack Obama shared a link on twitter to a story that featured the graphic prominently.

The idea of the epidemic curve became part of the vernacular of the Covid-19 pandemic. As Dr Siouxsie Wiles explained in the early stages of the pandemic, an epidemic curve has three phases – start, middle and end – which vary depending on how infectious the virus is, how it is transmitted, what the symptoms are, and what sort of resources are needed to contain the outbreak. Initially New Zealand’s response, in line with many other countries around the world, was to take measures to ‘flatten the curve,’ slowing the spread of the virus so as not to overwhelm the health system. However, the strategy quickly changed as health officials recognised that New Zealand had a brief window where there was not widespread community transmission, in which it might be able to eliminate the virus. On 23 March 2020 the Prime Minister announced that from 11:59pm on the 25th the country would be in a four-week lockdown.

References:

Greive, Duncan. 2020. 'A note from the managing editor of The Spinoff on our Covid-19 coverage.' The Spinoff, 20 March.
Spinoff staff writers. 2020. 'The bumper Toby Morris & Siouxsie Wiles Covid-19 box set.' The Spinoff, 19 May.
Wiles, Siouxsie. 2020. 'The three phases of Covid-19 - and how we can make it manageable.' The Spinoff, 9 March.
Wiles, Siouxsie. 2020. 'After "Flatten the Curve", we must now "Stop the Spread". Here's what that means.' The Spinoff, 14 March.