The Delayed Curve

Infections are Hard to Measure in Real Time

The Epidemiological curve, or "epi-curve," is a key tool for understanding the spread of COVID-19 infections. But it wasn't built for real-time tracking. Infections confirmed today were contracted days or even weeks earlier. This is due to the inherent delay for symptoms to present, medical help to be obtained, tests taken and results obtained.

What April test results told us about COVID-19's spread in March

Source: Virginia Department of Health