This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. All times below are in Eastern time. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.
- Global cases: More than 219,400
- Global deaths: At least 8,946
- US cases: At least 9,159
- US deaths: At least 150
All data above is provided by Johns Hopkins University.
9:53 am: Flattening the coronavirus curve — What this means and why it matters
The World Health Organization has repeatedly underlined the importance of “flattening the curve” in order to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, calling on countries around the world to impose sweeping public health measures.
In epidemiology, the curve refers to the projected number of new cases over a period of time.
In contrast to a steep rise of coronavirus infections, a more gradual uptick of cases will see the same number of people get infected, but without overburdening the health-care system at any one time.
The idea of flattening the curve is to stagger the…
