The Simple Rule That Could Keep COVID-19 Deaths Down

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During the first COVID-19 surge of the spring, the mantra was “Flatten the curve”—to buy time, using every tool available.

Seven months later, it’s possible to measure what that time has bought: The death rate for COVID-19 has fallen dramatically. Hospitals in most places are not overburdened, and treatments are improving in many small but cumulative ways. In one study of patients hospitalized in a New York City health system, the adjusted death rate fell from 25.6 percent in March, at the pandemic’s onset, to 7.6 percent in August.

This change and , and they underscore the reason for flattening the curve. The longer we can prevent infections, the better prepared we will be to treat the people who might eventually get it.