Coronavirus: Could Europe be flattening the curve? 

As the coronavirus spreads rapidly around the world, some European countries have begun flattening the curve of infections. According to numbers by Johns Hopkins collected by the website Worldometers, the start to a flattening is visible in Germany and France, where a total of around 160,000-166,000 cases had been recorded each.

In Italy where there are currently more than 200,000 cases, some progress has also been made. Spain has had the steepest curve despite also adhering to a strict lockdown. There are almost 237,000 known infections in the country.

The UK, where the outbreak started later, does not yet show any signs of infections slowing down. The same is true across the pond in the U.S., currently the country with most known infections and a curve that is still pointing upwards. Infections have passed 1 million stateside.

The countries' collective aim is to "flatten the curve" of infections. While South Korea was able to (more or less) stabilize its outbreak at around 10,000 cases - due to widespread free testing (including the now infamous drive-thru testing), quarantine measures and the harnessing of mobile technology for public information - China has stabilized theirs at around 83,000 cases. South Korea hit 100 cases on February 20 and managed to leave the steep upward trajectory around 14 days later. In the case of China, more than 100 cases were first recorded on January 20, and quarantine and testing measure succeeded in breaking the upwards trajectory by February 12 - around three and a half weeks later. Germany began leveling its curve around six weeks into the outbreak, while France started seeing results at around seven weeks.